906 families and individuals in Limerick have been served with Notices to Quit from the Housing Department of Limerick City and County Council under the Tenant in Situ Scheme.
The Local Authorities have been operating the scheme since 2023.
The figures were released to Aontú Cllr Sarah Beasley
Cllr Beasley says
“The upheaval and turmoil for these people is truly horrendous. They are settled in their homes, they feel safe and now face a deeply uncertain future without the very important anchor that a home brings.
The whole thing is an out and out mess.
The figures are quite astounding. For example, only 150 purchases have been completed. This is very, very low in the teeth of the worst housing crisis this country has ever known.
557 potential purchases have been withdrawn with the main reason being that the vendors did not accept the Local Authorities offer based on independent valuations.
This doesn’t make any sense to me at all, as surely it would be fiscally prudent for the State, through the local authorities in Limerick, to offer a reasonable sum to ensure these people are housed.
Buying the properties and leaving the tenants in situ in the homes they and their families are happy and settled in, makes so much more sense on every level.
It also begs the very important question as to the discrepancy in price being offered by the Local Authorities and the price that can be achieved by vendors on the open market.
Are local authorities offering realistic prices? If not, it is scandalous on both ethical and economic levels .
People will potentially be put out of the homes they have known, put into ‘emergency homeless accommodation’, which is going to cost so, so much more than actually purchasing the homes these tenants are currently in.
I think it beholds us now to find that out.
