Dundalk councillors push for action to reduce rent arrears in Louth

Councillors at the Dundalk Municipal District October meeting, were told that Louth County Council social housing tenants who are in arrears are not eligible for a number of programmes, including housing transfers, planned maintenance in terms of window and door replacements, and the Council's energy retrofit programme.

Cllr Maeve Yore raised the matter at the Dundalk Municipal District October meeting, asking what progress was being made in reducing the rent arrears owed to Louth County Council, which at 22 September, stood at €4,136,250.

Cllr Yore also told the October meeting that nationally, in 2024, a total of €120 million in rent arrears were owed to 32 local authorities across the country.

Replying to Cllr Yore, Mr Declan Grimes from the local authority's Housing section, highlighted the programmes that tenants are in arrears are not entitled to, and added that over the past few months, people who have been excluded from the energy retrofit programme due to being in arrears, were coming back and paying the arrears.

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Cllr Kevin Meenan also spoke on the matter, saying that rent reviews had not been taking place regularly enough. He said that when they did end up taking place, it was resulting in a spike in the level of arrears, adding that some people were not getting a rent review for a number of years and were ending up owing a large amount of money.

He said that if the area was resourced properly and more regular reviews were taking place, then he believed that within one or two years, the levels of arrears would fall.

Cllr Meenan added that it would also help distinguish between tenants who could not pay the arrears, and those would not pay them.