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Council Tenants Rights
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Just to confirm, I'm a South Dublin Council Tenant for the last 23+years, my life has changed many times over those years, if my income goes up, I ring the council, (but I know the answer, its 10% of my combined household income), at the moment I'm unemployed (last 3 years), I have 2 sons over 18, one over 21, pre budget of 201x he claims €188 and my second son claims €100. I'm not proud of my situation and trust me I am looking for work or something to better our lives.( I really hate it where we live, but life goes on ) I have my partner and one child. I claim 342euro, that's 188euro + 129 for my spouse, and 29euro for my child. My rent which I am very grateful for is 63.50per week ( -1euro for each child, under 18 )to live in a house, that we look after, that includes, windows and doors, common sense), however we pay 70 a week and if we need it we can skip a week if we are stuck. That's the truth.0
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Wrongcounciltenant wrote: »Thanks for your post. But to correct you, council rent is not 10% of the combined household income, it is 11% of the principle earner’s income.
Correct but you took advantage of that and said nothing about your +income, and you know quite well that it takes the council a year+ to process rent assent forms.The council reviews your rent on an annual basis which is why they send you a rent assessment form at the start of each year.
Now your contradicting yourself, listen get over it, you wont be evicted, just admit that you failed to notify the council of increased earnings and your willing to make amends and pay an extra agreed amount weekly. Problem shared is a problem solved. Honestly you sound like an honest bloke/ so don't make matters worse then they are... you will be fine if you get over the fact that maybe you were in the wrong.Yes if you lost your job you can contact the council and inform them your income has immediately lowered. Your current rent would be reduced I am sure but the upward adjustment portion for the previous year wouldn’t be reduced as this portion is owed from the previous year.0 -
Wrong
Correct but you took advantage of that and said nothing about your +income, and you know quite well that it takes the council a year+ to process rent assent forms. Now your contradicting yourself, listen get over it, you wont be evicted, just admit that you failed to notify the council of increased earnings and your willing to make amends and pay an extra agreed amount weekly. Problem shared is a problem solved. Honestly you sound like an honest bloke/ so don't make matters worse then they are... you will be fine if you get over the fact that maybe you were in the wrong.
Firstly, the council do charge 11% of the primary earners income. Just so you do not have to take my word on this matter, go directly to the council's web site and see for yourself http://www.fingalcoco.ie/Housing/Forms/Differential%20Rent%20Scheme%202011.pdf. Perhaps the council you rent from charges lower percentage rates but I pay 11% on my income to the council to live in a house that needs totally refurbishment but the council refuse to carry out this work because my tenancy dates before January 2001 I think it is. CRAZY! If my tenancy dated after this date, the council would have a legal obligation to put proper windows and doors in my house instead of the old rotten wooden framed windows that completely freeze shut during the winter. Am I being discriminated against? Of course I am.
Secondly, you need to read all of my posts and you will see that I haven't taken advantage of anything. You will also see that I did inform the council of my increased earnings by supplying the council with a copy of my P60. Judging by what you said about me not informing the council about my increase in income, you obviously do not know what a P60 is so please before you start making the type of comments you have made in your recent post, please read all the facts. I have conformed full to the rules and procedures as set out by the council I rent from.
I have read your post about your own situation and whereas I do symphonise with you and I genuinely hope things improve for you and your family, but there is no need for you to get on your high horse and make wrongful statements and comments about someone else. Your type of comments stinks of begrudgery and jealousy and I think it is you who needs to “get over” yourself and your situation and start doing something about it and stop trying to put other people down. I was once in your shoes but instead of feeling sorry for myself and begrudging other people’s achievements and what they have, I got up off my backside and done something about it. I work seven days a week and have done so for the past 5 years and any increase in my salary is well and truly deserved and earned. So please, sort your own life out before you make stupid annoying comments that are completely wrong.
For your information, I am not a bloke but that is just another assumption you have made. I am an honest person and a single mother. I pay a lot of taxes every month and I do not claim anything from the government. I could be very smart and say that if it wasn’t for PAYE workers like me, paying huge taxes every month, the government wouldn’t be able to pay you your social welfare payments but as I said, I was once in your shoes and I never look down on any person regardless of what they have or do not have but when someone makes the type of comments that you have, it really gets my back up.
Sorry if I have offended you or any one else but please think before you type.0 -
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Hmm the Council currently offer 40% off the market value if you have lived in the same rented accommodation for over 10 years, it used to be 30%.
Fingal county council offer 3% per year off the market value of your home for every year you lived in it up to a max of 15 years (45%). The maximum of 15 years was only introduced recently and before this it was a max of 10 years. I think this 15 years max is due to end this year, not sure though.0 -
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I'm still not sure where the deficit is coming from after reading the thread and the link. Am I right in saying the below is how it works? You pay 11% of your current income in rent. At the beginning of the year you send in your P60 for the previous year and they'll give you an estimate of what you should pay each week. At the end of the year you send in your P60 and they calculate the balance that was owing for the year and give you the new estimated weekly amount for next year.
I don't see how you can be owing thousands from the balancing amount unless you get a pay rise of €40 grand or so. I'm assuming you could pay the balance anyway if you did.
Was there no balancing figure being calculated each year? That could maybe cause it. You need to find out where they're getting the figure from.0 -
counciltenant wrote: »For your information, I am not a bloke but that is just another assumption you have made. I am an honest person and a single mother. I pay a lot of taxes every month and I do not claim anything from the government. I could be very smart and say that if it wasn’t for PAYE workers like me, paying huge taxes every month, the government wouldn’t be able to pay you your social welfare payments but as I said, I was once in your shoes and I never look down on any person regardless of what they have or do not have but when someone makes the type of comments that you have, it really gets my back up.
So, essentially you're a year behind on payments for a few years now, and you think you don't have to pay it? Why not supply the council with your income details at the beginning of the year? This would mean you would be on the correct rate for any given year - you could do this by providing a contract from your employer or perhaps a payslip from the first month after the income increases.
I can understand why you are frustrated that the council did not give you what you deem to be the correct rate, but they were basing their calculations on information provided by you, so it's not their mistake. They adjusted their figures. You knew you had to pay 11%, they were clearly not charging you 11% of whatever your income was for a given year, something which you could have calculated yourself, and put by the extra for when it was adjusted, or informed them.
As to your comment on not taking handouts - you get a vastly reduced rent rate, supplemented by taxes, you're a single parent so I assume you get child benefit for your child, paid from taxes, before you were employed I assume you were on some form of benefit, paid from taxes, so maybe you should think about how much help those taxes are to you before you berate other people.0 -
counciltenant wrote: »... I pay a lot of taxes every month and I do not claim anything from the government. I could be very smart and say that if it wasn’t for PAYE workers like me, paying huge taxes every month....
Get over yourself will you? We all pay a shyte load of taxes - not just you.
Not all of us get dirt cheap housing though.0 -
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OP
I think you misunderstood the system but I may be wrong. It depends on the council. The p60 isn't to judge just what you pay the next year but what you should have paid that year. The onus is on you to inform them when your wages increase so you don't owe arrears.
The issue is more down to how you were informed or if the information was available to you. I find it hard to believe they suddenly told you that there was a massive amount outstanding.
Either way you will not be evicted arrange to meet them and schedule a payment plan. You will still be paying less rent than in the private market.
As for the faults with the property they are effectively your responsibility as the idea is you eventually buy the house. It has benefits being a council tenant you need to decide if they are worth it.
Your post have not been clear on how they think you owe them money which suggests you don't know.0 -
I'm still not sure where the deficit is coming from after reading the thread and the link. Am I right in saying the below is how it works? You pay 11% of your current income in rent. At the beginning of the year you send in your P60 for the previous year and they'll give you an estimate of what you should pay each week. At the end of the year you send in your P60 and they calculate the balance that was owing for the year and give you the new estimated weekly amount for next year.
I don't see how you can be owing thousands from the balancing amount unless you get a pay rise of €40 grand or so. I'm assuming you could pay the balance anyway if you did.
Was there no balancing figure being calculated each year? That could maybe cause it. You need to find out where they're getting the figure from.
I do not have a fixed salary and it goes up and down every month. Some months it is low, other months it is higher. I have asked the council if there is an adjustment upwards from the previous year, is this adjustment spread over the next 52 weeks? They haven’t answered me on this and I have asked them at least a half dozen times. It is my view that they do not spread the amount evenly over the coming 52 weeks and spread it over a much longer period of time, which means that despite a tenant paying the correct amount as advised by their council in writing, arrears still build up and unless you have some years were there is adjustments downwards, a build up of arrears accumulates until the council decides it is too high so they want a huge lump sum to bring it back down.
The bottom line is I pay the rent the council inform me in writing each year to pay. How many times do I have to say that I do not make the rules. I fully follow the council’s procedures but there appears to be a huge amount of people on here who just are unable to see that or who haven’t read all my posts. So for you people who think that I have not followed the councils rules, or that I have not declared all my income to the council, or that I somehow screwed the council or system, or that I have claimed social welfare for years in the past, you are completely wrong and you would know that if you took the time to read all my posts before you made your comments. I worked all my adult life from the age of 16 years and paid taxes for every hour I earned and only stopped work for 5 years when my children were young.
As I said in my previous posts, I am not looking for sympathy or handouts. I simply came on here looking to ask people if they could help me find out where I can find information about what a council tenants rights are but it is clear that there are a lot of begrudges who frequent this site and all I can say is that you really do need to take a good look at yourselves. For those of you who made helpful, mature comments and who didn’t use my thread to get something off their chest and have a go at someone who is getting on with their life and doing something with it and not feeling sorry for themselves, I thank you very, very much.
For the rest of you, if you are not happy with what you have achieved or not achieved in your life then do what I did. Work hard, stop your moaning and begrudging those who are achieving something you envy. No wonder you hear it a lot that the Irish are such a begrudging race but I can genuinely say that most of us are not but unfortunately, you always get the odd few who just can’t admire and be pleased when something achieves something off their own back.0 -
Ray Palmer wrote: »OP
I think you misunderstood the system but I may be wrong. It depends on the council. The p60 isn't to judge just what you pay the next year but what you should have paid that year. The onus is on you to inform them when your wages increase so you don't owe arrears.
The issue is more down to how you were informed or if the information was available to you. I find it hard to believe they suddenly told you that there was a massive amount outstanding.
Either way you will not be evicted arrange to meet them and schedule a payment plan. You will still be paying less rent than in the private market.
As for the faults with the property they are effectively your responsibility as the idea is you eventually buy the house. It has benefits being a council tenant you need to decide if they are worth it.
Your post have not been clear on how they think you owe them money which suggests you don't know.
Ray thanks for your comments. The P60 is to independently confirm to the council what your previous years income was so they base the current years rent on that. If there was any adjustment this is incorporated in the coming years weekly rent and they inform you what you are to pay. This is exactly what I done. As I said in pervious posts, my income is not fixed and fluctuates each month.
I find it even harder that you to believe that there is so much rent owing because I genuinely thought that I was paying my rent in full every month because I was paying what the council told me to pay.
I am 50 – 50 if the council will be granted an eviction order but I cannot see how a judge would grant such an order considering I have never once caused any trouble to anyone and considering that I have being paying the rent every month as advised by the council. I know myself that the council have somehow made a mistake or their adjustment method is at fault in a way I have previously mentioned in several posts.
I am the type of person who keeps themselves to themselves and have instilled a high level of respect, morals and values into my children, who I might add are very quite and respectful children, unlike most of the children where I live. I am polite and respectful of others and because of this, I went through years of intimidation from large groups of teenagers where I live but despite reporting this to the guards and the council, nothing was ever done. I am a though woman and a fighter which is why I have overcome all the crap I went though and I wish the people who are trying to have a go at me would just stop using this threat to do that.
As for the faults with the house, there are certain faults that I have no problem accepting as my responsibility. However, having rotten window frames that freeze solid during the winter to the point you cannot open them, glass that is illegal and unsafe to use in modern houses but somehow is it considered ok to use in my house is just not acceptable. The idea behind council housing is not that a tenant eventually buys the house. That option is available if you have lived in the house for a minimum of one year. Council housing is for those who cannot afford to buy their own house or afford to rent from private landlords. I cannot afford to rent from a private landlord and yet I am paying a very high rental rate to live in the area I live in. I absolutely hate where I live and am trying my best to get out of here and hopefully within the year or two I will but in the meantime, I have to put up with all the anti-social activity that goes hand-in-hand with living on a council estate.0 -
Firstly, if you have read my posts you would see that I am not saying I shouldn’t pay the rent that is owed. You would also see that I have given the council full details of my income and followed the councils own procedures in this regard. My monthly salary is not fixed so I never know from month to month what my end of month income will be.So, essentially you're a year behind on payments for a few years now, and you think you don't have to pay it? Why not supply the council with your income details at the beginning of the year? This would mean you would be on the correct rate for any given year - you could do this by providing a contract from your employer or perhaps a payslip from the first month after the income increases.
I can understand why you are frustrated that the council did not give you what you deem to be the correct rate, but they were basing their calculations on information provided by you, so it's not their mistake. They adjusted their figures. You knew you had to pay 11%, they were clearly not charging you 11% of whatever your income was for a given year, something which you could have calculated yourself, and put by the extra for when it was adjusted, or informed them.
As to your comment on not taking handouts - you get a vastly reduced rent rate, supplemented by taxes, you're a single parent so I assume you get child benefit for your child, paid from taxes, before you were employed I assume you were on some form of benefit, paid from taxes, so maybe you should think about how much help those taxes are to you before you berate other people.
Regarding me getting a “vastly reduced rent rate” I most certainly don’t. If you were to rent a house from a private landlord in the area I live in, you would pay what I am paying to the council except you would have more rights if you rent from a private landlord. I have rented before from private landlords and didn’t like being at the mercy of them knowing that they give you a months notice to vacate the property. My rent is not supplemented by taxes because I pay way above the normal council rent rate but I cannot afford to rent a house in a private area from a private landlord. Yes I get child benefit like every other parent in this country including those parents who are millionaires. One day when you are a parent, you will also be entitled to it but will you refuse it?? I very much doubt it! In my whole life, I was unemployed for five years but worked and paid taxes for over 20 years so I think for those five years I was unemployed (raring my children) I was entitled to claim social welfare. So perhaps now you should think about all the taxes I have paid for over 20 years and claimed for just 5 years. Are you trying to say that I sponged off the system and other tax payers? Because I haven’t as my tax records show.0 -
Read my other posts before you make such an ill informed comment. I have already acknowledged that we all pay a lot of taxes and I did not and am not singling myself out.Get over yourself will you? We all pay a shyte load of taxes - not just you.
Not all of us get dirt cheap housing though.
Dirt cheap housing. You assume a lot with that comment so let me correct you. I pay a lot of rent for the house and area I live in and as I said in a previous post, I could rent a house in the same area I live in from a private landlord for the same rate I am paying the council. So I am not getting “dirt cheap housing”. You are obviously someone who has preconceived ideas on what people are like who live in council estates.0 -
+1 i'm sure you get more out of the taxes than you pay in.
Well Ted, I don't get anymore than any other working adult and I am sure I pay a lot more taxes than other adults and I am also equally sure I pay a lot less tax than other adults. Because I live on a council estate you automatically think I am some how getting special treatment from the taxman or the government.0 -
I am not replying to anymore posts so I would like to thank all those who have made mature and none begrudging comments. I very much appreciate them all.
For all those who are not happy with their achievements in life to date, I hope your life improves and helps you stop being so jealous of other people and just be happy with what you are and what you have done so far in your life. It is okay to envy what other people have but try not let that envy overtake you and force you to begrudge other people achievements.0 -
Counciltenant hope u get this sorted . Get onto ombudsman and hound them , your local councillor who ever that is . As u said u furnished them with documentation as is requested on their tenancy agreement z. And u no doubt had to change standing orders very year because rent was adjusted in line with changes in your salary . Any forms u can find make sure u make multiple copies cause u are going to be forwarding off to diff places and things can easily get misplaced ..
Surely they have not enforced an eviction order on u because of a mistake /incompetence on their part . If that's the case threshold should be notified..
Don't stop paying your rent either. As this could be turned against u . Don't they give u a statement of rent received ? If yes find all . If not and it's a standing order try and get that ordered from the bank ..
If u like the house area then u should not be bullied out of it ... If u feel that they did not honour their side sep to the rent , repairs etc advise that too ..
Good luck0 -
counciltenant wrote: »+1 i'm sure you get more out of the taxes than you pay in.
Well Ted, I don't get anymore than any other working adult and I am sure I pay a lot more taxes than other adults and I am also equally sure I pay a lot less tax than other adults. Because I live on a council estate you automatically think I am some how getting special treatment from the taxman or the government.
Your government subsidied rent would mean you get more than most adults, especially those who are self sufficient.0 -
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counciltenant wrote: »Firstly, if you have read my posts you would see that I am not saying I shouldn’t pay the rent that is owed. You would also see that I have given the council full details of my income and followed the councils own procedures in this regard. My monthly salary is not fixed so I never know from month to month what my end of month income will be.
I read all of the posts in this thread before I responded at all. You are looking for a way to make out that the council are in the wrong == you don't think you owe the rent == you don't think you should pay that.
They don't get your details until a year AFTER you earn. If you earned €100 in 2010, and they base your 2011 rent on this, and you then earn €200 in 2011, as a very simplified example. They would ask you to pay €11, but in fact you should be paying €22, so the extra €11 would be noted as a deficit. The council have done nothing wrong, from the details you've given, in their calculation, and you simply owe the money.Regarding me getting a “vastly reduced rent rate” I most certainly don’t. If you were to rent a house from a private landlord in the area I live in, you would pay what I am paying to the council except you would have more rights if you rent from a private landlord. I have rented before from private landlords and didn’t like being at the mercy of them knowing that they give you a months notice to vacate the property. My rent is not supplemented by taxes because I pay way above the normal council rent rate but I cannot afford to rent a house in a private area from a private landlord. Yes I get child benefit like every other parent in this country including those parents who are millionaires. One day when you are a parent, you will also be entitled to it but will you refuse it?? I very much doubt it! In my whole life, I was unemployed for five years but worked and paid taxes for over 20 years so I think for those five years I was unemployed (raring my children) I was entitled to claim social welfare. So perhaps now you should think about all the taxes I have paid for over 20 years and claimed for just 5 years. Are you trying to say that I sponged off the system and other tax payers? Because I haven’t as my tax records show.
First you say it's the same amount as a private residence, and then you say you couldn't afford private renting, which is it? Either your rent is supplemented or it's not.
I'm not attacking you for availing of any kind of social welfare, simply pointing out that your logic of tax paying and not getting anything back is wrong. Also, what money do you think paid for the council house you live in? You got it, TAXES. Basically, give up on the tax argument, because it's pretty much invalid.0 -
I read all of the posts in this thread before I responded at all. You are looking for a way to make out that the council are in the wrong == you don't think you owe the rent == you don't think you should pay that.
They don't get your details until a year AFTER you earn. If you earned €100 in 2010, and they base your 2011 rent on this, and you then earn €200 in 2011, as a very simplified example. They would ask you to pay €11, but in fact you should be paying €22, so the extra €11 would be noted as a deficit. The council have done nothing wrong, from the details you've given, in their calculation, and you simply owe the money.
Ok I said I wouldn't be replying to more posts but when such a stupid post like this is posted I just have to reply. You seriously haven't a clue how the council works and that is clear from what your post. If you want to work on €11.00 examples that you can understand then you go ahead but clearly reality is beyond what you can understand.
Can you actually read or have you even bothered to read my post before you typed your reply? I never said it was the same amount as a private residence. Please do yourself a favour and read my post again because you clearly cannot understand what I said.
What I said was, if I was to rent the same size house from a person who owned a house in the council area where I live, they would be charging me the same amount the council are currently charging me.
I do NOT avail of any king of social welfare you stupid person and where in the world did you read I was? Can you actually read??? Hint, read previous posts before you make such a stupid a comment, it really is a basic concept and stops you making a fool of yourself. I am not looking for anything back for the taxes I have paid and how you actually come to that conclusion is a total mystery. Just goes to show that the moment you read my username you automatically formed your opinion of me. You clearly haven't read my posts so do yourself a favour and read before you post a comment, that way you won't portray yourself as being such as stupid person with your small minded comments.
I bet I pay a lot more tax every month than you do so give up on your ridiculous point of trying to make out that I am availing of cheap or subsidised housing because I am not. People like you are the sort of people who haven’t a clue about real live.0 -
Your government subsidied rent would mean you get more than most adults, especially those who are self sufficient.
Ted do you actually work? Get a life or at least read what I have already posted because you clearly haven't. If you prefer to ignore what I have already posted then you only make yourself out to be even more of an ass that you are already portraying yourself out to be. Where on this earth do you get that my rent is being subsidised my the government?
This is the bets part of your comment and I quote "especially those who are self sufficient".
Honestly, after what you have read, example, my posts, how can you come to the conclusion that I am not self sufficient or that I do not make my own way in this life? You either cannot read or are unwilling to accept that someone living on a council estate (me) actually earns more than you and has achieved more than you.
I hate having to be insulting to anyone but when people like this fool post what he has it just annoys the hell out of me.0 -
Counciltenant hope u get this sorted . Get onto ombudsman and hound them , your local councillor who ever that is . As u said u furnished them with documentation as is requested on their tenancy agreement z. And u no doubt had to change standing orders very year because rent was adjusted in line with changes in your salary . Any forms u can find make sure u make multiple copies cause u are going to be forwarding off to diff places and things can easily get misplaced ..
Surely they have not enforced an eviction order on u because of a mistake /incompetence on their part . If that's the case threshold should be notified..
Don't stop paying your rent either. As this could be turned against u . Don't they give u a statement of rent received ? If yes find all . If not and it's a standing order try and get that ordered from the bank ..
If u like the house area then u should not be bullied out of it ... If u feel that they did not honour their side sep to the rent , repairs etc advise that too ..
Good luck
Janedoe many thanks for your sensible and non judgmental comments and advice, which is very much appreciated. The amount of ridiculous, small minded judgmental comments that have been posted is just so disappointing that it reflects badly on this site. I think if the users of this site value this site then they should think before they post the type of comments they do because they are so judgmental it is so pitiful. Trying to make out that I am some kind of sponger or do not pay taxes or do not want to pay my rent or that I am some how looking for special treatment or that I claim social welfare and want an easy ride is so sad.
People making such comments only show that Ireland is still a land of begrudges who put more energy into trying to drag down achievers than they do into trying to improve their own situation.
Thanks janedoe0 -
Fwiw op, I think you have had an unfair time on here. But to be honest, I'm still not clear on how the arrears have built up. Income is self declared at the end of the year, the next years rent is based on this, and adjusted accordingly if there has been changes the next year?
Is the issue that the Council is not allowing you pay the arrears over a period of time?
Some people do not understand that social housing is not always a hand out, and is sometimes profitable for the council, also that ideally there is a good social mix in such housing estates. Some councils have Tenant Liason Officers, has yours?
Having said that, you sound unhappy with the area, anti social problems and the quality of the housing. It may be time for you to look at moving as you have the means to.
I'm know quite a few people have done this. It's sad really, as they were an asset to the area and community, but decided in the end to put their own family first and stop fighting a losing battle with the bad eggs.0 -
Join Date:Posts: 30620
Everyone- lets calm down a little.
Its not difficult to be civil to one another.
If you disagree with what someone posts- refute the post- without attacking the poster.
Next person who is incapable of following this very simple little rule- will get a holiday from this forum.
Regards,
SMcCarrick0 -
That all sounds very messy. It doesn't sound to me though like it's all the council's responsibility. You are supposed to notify them if your income changes and it should have been blatantly obvious that your weekly rent was a lot less than 11% of your income, even if it was going up and down. You need to put your hands up and tell the council that you accept you were at fault but thought you were following their procedures. It does seem funny that this hasn't come to light sooner but I'm not sure how they work things so can't say for sure how much they are also responsible.counciltenant wrote: »I do not have a fixed salary and it goes up and down every month. Some months it is low, other months it is higher. I have asked the council if there is an adjustment upwards from the previous year, is this adjustment spread over the next 52 weeks? They haven’t answered me on this and I have asked them at least a half dozen times. It is my view that they do not spread the amount evenly over the coming 52 weeks and spread it over a much longer period of time, which means that despite a tenant paying the correct amount as advised by their council in writing, arrears still build up and unless you have some years were there is adjustments downwards, a build up of arrears accumulates until the council decides it is too high so they want a huge lump sum to bring it back down.
The bottom line is I pay the rent the council inform me in writing each year to pay. How many times do I have to say that I do not make the rules. I fully follow the council’s procedures
Step one is to find out how exactly what the shortfall is. Get it broken down into how much should have been paid each year and what was paid. No harm in double checking to make sure their sums are right. Though I'd guess not as they've probably checked themselves already.
Step two is to go to someone likes MABS and ask them to help you do out a budget of your income and expenditure. Then you can work out what you can afford to pay back each week. You want to show the council you're doing what you can and that you're not just making a token effort. At the same time you don't want to be too ambitious and then find you're missing payments.
Then go back to the council and explain your situation and how you propose to pay it back. The budget will let them see you're making all reasonable efforts to pay the money back. From their point of view if you're being constructive and helpful with them that's as much as they can hope for. Taking you to court isn't going to help them get blood from a stone and they know this. I can't see how evicting you would help things.
If the council are still being unreasonable then try contacting one of your local councillors and see if they can help you. If it does end up going to court then try FLAC to get some basic legal advice and they may be able to help you see if you qualify for legal aid.0
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