Sligo County Council’s Acting Chief Executive Tom Kilfeather has set out the background to the recent rent review for Sligo County Council tenants.
Rental Income
Rental income required to fund housing repairs
While Councillors have conveyed their concern at the rent review, it was outlined at the Council’s recent Budget Meeting that decisions on housing rents are the responsibility of the Council Executive. There had been a deferral in the increase in Housing rents due to the pandemic. It is important to note that Sligo County Council has the lowest rent of all the Local Authorities in the country. The rent has not been increased for a number of years in Sligo. For these reasons Sligo County Council also has the lowest maintenance costs spend on social housing in the country, and we do not have sufficient rental income to invest in the appropriate maintenance of the Council’s social housing stock.
The results of this lack of investment can be seen in the deterioration of Council houses, with an increase in the number of ‘voids’ as it was not possible to carry out necessary repairs to allow the houses to be allocated to reduce numbers on the housing list.
The additional income that will accrue to the Council from the modest increase in rents will support improvements to our housing stock.