Family unlawfully removed from Limerick social housing list, court rules

Seán McCárthaigh

Limerick City and County Council acted unlawfully when it removed a Traveller family from the social housing list for a year after they had handed back the keys of a property after windows were smashed and threatening graffiti was written on its walls, the High Court has ruled.

A mother and her two young children, who cannot be identified on the direction of Judge Garrett Simons, won their legal case against the council over claims they had been unlawfully removed from the housing list for 12 months.

Lawyers for Limerick City and County Council had opposed the judicial review of its decision, as it claimed the family could have remained in the property with the assistance of gardaí and other services.

They also claimed the judicial review had been sought outside a statutory time limit and that the proceedings had become moot.

However, the council acknowledged during the hearing that the surrender of the tenancy after two criminal attacks on the property did not constitute a refusal of an offer of housing.

The court heard Social Housing Allocation Regulations allow a local authority to remove an applicant from a waiting list for housing where a qualified household refuses two reasonable offers within the space of 12 months.

Limerick City and County Council claimed the applicants had refused an offer of accommodation in March 2023 before accepting a second one but subsequently unreasonably surrendering the tenancy.

The family, who had been living in emergency accommodation, initially refused the offer in August 2023 of a second dwelling which was to be provided by the Peter McVerry Trust.

The court heard the mother expressed concern about anti-social behaviour in the area, including drug use and damage to property.

She explained that there had been reports of violence in the area involving some distant relations who shared her surname.

The woman said she believed her family were consequently at risk of being associated with those events and would be subjected to intimidation.

However, she accepted the offer after being informed that a refusal would trigger her removal from the housing list for 12 months as she had turned down a second reasonable offer of accommodation.

The woman remained concerned, as threatening graffiti had been painted on the property before they even moved into the house, and it reappeared again after the council had arranged for the original graffiti to be painted over.

The court heard the front windows of the house were smashed in on December 27, 2023 – six weeks after the family had moved into the property.

Another incident occurred a few days later when a person tried to break into the house in the middle of the night and the rear windows were smashed.

The woman surrendered the tenancy on January 2, 2024, despite being advised by a social worker in the council’s Traveller accommodation unit and an employee of the Peter McVerry Trust to engage with gardaí and available support services.

On the same day, she was informed by the council that her household had been removed from the social housing waiting list.

Although the 12-month removal from the housing list had passed to make the judicial review proceedings technically moot, Mr Justice Simons said the principal issue should still be determined as the parties remained in a relationship in relation to the housing list.

The judge said there was no evidence that the council had carried out any assessment that considered the mother’s concerns, the risk of further intimidation, or available support services.

The court heard that the council had commenced criminal proceedings against the mother over an alleged failure to comply with an enforcement notice to remove the caravan she was living in from a disused roadway.

However, the proceedings were struck out after the caravan was removed in November 2024, when the family returned to living in emergency accommodation.

The woman, who legally represented herself, told the court that a delay in appealing that decision was due to her family having to return to living in a caravan and not having access to basic services, while also having difficulty in obtaining legal assistance.

The judge noted the council had accepted that it had not met the requirement of the legislation that offers of housing must meet the needs and requirements of a qualified household and in an area of their choice to be considered reasonable.

He ruled that Limerick City and County Council had acted unlawfully in excluding the applicants from the housing list for a 12-month period.

The judge rejected the woman’s request for a court order compelling the council to provide her family with suitable accommodation and deferred the issue of whether her family was entitled to any damages to another hearing date.