RAS with Fingal County Council

pluto86

Hi there I'm wondering if anybody could be in the same situation.

In 2008 I signed a RAS lease.when I was first contacted by the council I was told that I would be kept on the housing list and could be offered a council house in the meantime.

About 3.5years in to my lease I contacted the council to see where I was on the list and they informed me I was no longer on it that I was housed and I'd be contacted at the on of the 5years to renew it or find different accommodation if my needs had changed.I am now here 6.5 years and no body has been in contact with me.

I feel that I have been miss lead and given false information when I first signed this list.will I ever be entitle d to a house that I can call my own or will I be liven in rented accommodation forever??

Is any one else in this situation or was what did you do any information would be great thank you :-)

Victor

Realistically, I imagine things will continue as is. Assuming that you are adequately housed (circumstance do change), I can't see any changes happening on the council side.

Councils have a much more limited housing stock compared to the 1980s and are relying more on things like RAS and housing charities. They will no longer build large estates (they can become ghettoes) or give people tenancies for life (circumstance change a lot during a lifetime).

fussyonion

I almost went on RAS. I was told I would be removed from the Housing List if I went on RAS. Are you saying you were not told about this?

I know people on RAS who were all informed their names would be removed from the Housing List.

zef

Afaik once the HAP payment scheme is rolled out, people availing it will be deemed housed , allowing priority for Co co. Housing for the homeless and those in emergency situations.
There just isn't the stock there anymore after the council sold off a large percentage if Dublin housing stock.

Gatling

The local authorities are passing the lists on to private house associations cluid.nabco and so on

raydar

Yes it happened to me ,My Rent Allowance got canceled and i was forced onto RAS They said before i signed up for the RAS scheme that i could still get called for council flat ,then i went on to RAS and they said i am now housed and off the housing list and if i didnt except this RAS i was not entitled to anything

murphaph

I don't see the problem. Society is housing you.

nibtrix

What's wrong with living in rented accommodation? People all over the world live in rented accommodation their whole lives - you at least have a long lease, isn't it normally 5 to 10 years?

foggy_lad

nibtrix wrote: »

What's wrong with living in rented accommodation? People all over the world live in rented accommodation their whole lives - you at least have a long lease, isn't it normally 5 to 10 years?

And at the end of that lease the council still have an obligation to house you in suitable accommodation.

murphaph

foggy_lad wrote: »

And at the end of that lease the council still have an obligation to house you in suitable accommodation.

Exactly. Once you go on RAS as a tenant you have to be "looked after" by the council as if you had a council house if the LL ever decides to leave the scheme (which many are in their droves in fact as the councils still seem to think it's appropriate to pay a (rare) landlord that will take RAS tenants 10% below the going rate! That stuff about "no lost rent due to vacancies" is nonsense in this market-a LL can rent a place out in the likes of Fingal in 24 hours...no loss of rent at all in fact and the reality is that most RAS tenants will spend much more time in the property and cause much more wear and tear than a normal private tenant. The council should perhaps consider paying ABOVE market rates if the want to have a chance of holding on to or attracting landlords to the scheme (in Dublin and larger cities anyway).

1moreyr

nibtrix wrote: »

What's wrong with living in rented accommodation? People all over the world live in rented accommodation their whole lives - you at least have a long lease, isn't it normally 5 to 10 years?

Unfortunately the problem with living in rented accommodation in Ireland is that the sector is very poorly regulated. Some of the houses that are for rent are shocking.

OP- RAS tenants before 2010 can reapply to go on the housing list but as another post said there is limited housing available.

Sleepy

murphaph wrote: »

Exactly. Once you go on RAS as a tenant you have to be "looked after" by the council as if you had a council house if the LL ever decides to leave the scheme (which many are in their droves in fact as the councils still seem to think it's appropriate to pay a (rare) landlord that will take RAS tenants 10% below the going rate! That stuff about "no lost rent due to vacancies" is nonsense in this market-a LL can rent a place out in the likes of Fingal in 24 hours...no loss of rent at all in fact and the reality is that most RAS tenants will spend much more time in the property and cause much more wear and tear than a normal private tenant. The council should perhaps consider paying ABOVE market rates if the want to have a chance of holding on to or attracting landlords to the scheme (in Dublin and larger cities anyway).

I believe there are moves being made towards a scheme whereby the council will take a long-term lease from a landlord and take over maintenance responsibilities for the property during that time which could certainly make it worthwhile for a landlord to accept below market rates since they'd have a guaranteed rent, zero maintenance costs and zero hassle of dealing with tennants for 5/10 years etc.

Victor

1moreyr wrote: »

Unfortunately the problem with living in rented accommodation in Ireland is that the sector is very poorly regulated. Some of the houses that are for rent are shocking.

With RAS and the like, the council actually inspects the properties, so standards will definitely be better than the lower end of the private market.

As it is a 5 year lease, where the council pays the landlord (and tenant pays council), the landlord has no 'out' to unfairly remove the tenant.

foggy_lad

With RAS the Council only "facilitate" the whole thing by acting as "bag men" for the rent but the actual rental agreement is solely between landlord and tenant. If the tenant stops paying the council their share the council will inform the LL to issue notice of arrears etc and if that does not work the council will afaik stop paying the landlord when the notice of arrears and a subsequent eviction notice have expired. It will then be up to the Landlord to get rid of the tenants through the PRTB and courts.

While Landlords have to obey the rules the tenants also do because if you mess up on the scheme you get "blacklisted" and will not get housed by any council and also not eligible for rent supplement for at least 3 years so it is in any tenants interests to look after the house or apartment they call home!

That usually means no dodgy DIY and no changing things around like it is your own house, No anti social behaviour and no drugs but sadly the councils are left with hundreds of families and individuals who because they are just so awful can't be placed in normal council estates so they try to pawn them off on private landlords and often this is done through the HSE and Community welfare officers.

When they are trying to pull strokes like this is it any wonder the private landlords won't trust normal people who are looking for a leg up on the RAS scheme.

murphaph

Victor wrote: »

As it is a 5 year lease, where the council pays the landlord (and tenant pays council), the landlord has no 'out' to unfairly remove the tenant.

Some RAS contracts allow a LL to exit the scheme if he wishes to sell or use the property himself.

foggy_lad

murphaph wrote: »

Some RAS contracts allow a LL to exit the scheme if he wishes to sell or use the property himself.

Afaik most are written up with those clauses plus access for viewings from about 2 months from the end of the lease.