Cork tenant ‘full of stress’ overs fears her home will be put on open market

A Cork woman has said she has no idea where she will live next month due to issues with Cork City Council’s Government-funded tenant-in-situ scheme, through which the home she had been renting from a private landlord was set to be sold to the council.

She told The Echo she fears the property will now be put on the open market.

“My notice was up and I had nowhere to go, the council gave the landlord an offer and the house went ‘sale agreed’ in February,” she said. 

“All of a sudden I hear the funding is gone. The council haven’t even bothered to ring or email me. They gave me a bit of hope, and now it’s gone again. I thought I was safe, my house was safe and the sale was secure — now I’m just full of stress not knowing.”

Inadequate

She first feared the sale of her house to the council might be in danger last week, when Sinn Féin councillor Kenneth Collins shared a response he got from the council on the tenant-in-situ scheme. It said the funding allocation received by council from the Government 'is inadequate to fulfil its existing commitments and the projected programme for 2025.'

“My notice was up in February, so I’m already overstaying it,” said the woman.

She added that if the sale is pulled, she will be left in limbo.

She lives in the house with her eight-year-old daughter, and says the location is ideal as she doesn’t drive and is in close proximity to public transport, and her daughter gets picked up by the school bus.

“I’ve been in this house for four years but I’ve been in this area all my life, it’s my home,” she said. “The scheme would have meant I could have been a tenant here forever, my daughter would be able to stay in her school, in her clubs, with her friends.

“I’m on the housing list over five years, my landlord approached me to say he was selling the house so I approached the council, I’ve done everything the right way.

“It’s a great scheme. It shouldn’t be cut, it should be invested into for other families like mine who have nowhere to go — nobody can afford rent.

“They’re after making these promises and have given us hope.”

Contact

She said she has been in contact with Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, who has been trying to help her get answers. He will raise the issue in the Dáil next week seeking a commitment from Government that additional funding will be supplied to honour commitments. Mr Gould said that he knows of multiple other families in this situation.

“The tenants were happy, the landlords were happy, the council was happy, then the funding never came through,” said Mr Gould. 

“This is a simple fix — it’s all about money. The Government will be putting families into emergency accommodation, which will also have a huge cost to the State, and it’s going to do huge damage to families, — children in particular.

“Last year this scheme worked very well, and the council have said there’s been a huge increase in people receiving notices to quit so far this year — we’ve had four families approach us just this week after being told to leave.

“So this year will be worse than last year, when 37% of homelessness preventions in the city were through this scheme.”

The Echo contacted Cork City Council for comment.