Statement From Wicklow County Council Concerning The 2011 Rent Review.

All council tenants are obliged to supply the council with details of their household circumstances and income to ensure that the correct weekly rent is charged. This is a condition of their tenancy agreement which they signed on taking up occupation of their council house.

The rent payable by council tenants is calculated on household income and all tenants must notify the council of any change in their household income. Tenants are generally very quick in contacting the council if they suffer any loss in income but rarely, if ever, contact us to report any increase in household income.

For that reason, the council periodically seeks to update its records and carries out a Rent review of all tenants to ensure that they are being correctly charged. Up to 2008, this review was carried out annually, but no review was carried out in 2009 or 2010 and a review is now long overdue. All tenants have now completed new rent forms and the revised rents are effective from Saturday 4th June, 2011.

The council imposes a minimum rent on all council houses. The minimum rent has been €20 per week up to now. A recent survey of adjoining counties has revealed that Wicklow’s minimum rent is very low compared to other counties, some of which are charging a minimum of €30 per week. A national rent scheme is currently being developed by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and it is anticipated that such a scheme will be setting a national minimum rent of €30 per week. As part of this current review of rents, we have increased our minimum rent to €24 per week.

Although legally entitled to do so, the council does not back-date new rents. As such, any tenant whose financial circumstances have improved since the last review in 2008 and who did not inform the council of such change, even though they were legally obliged to do so, has benefited considerably.

There are a total of 2316 council tenants in the county council area and of these

• 248 tenants or 10.7% are paying minimum rent
• 816 tenants or 35.2% are paying €30 or under per week
• 1242 tenants or 53.6% are paying less than €50 per week
• The average weekly rent is €52.40 per week

All rent schemes contain a hardship clause. Any tenant who considers that they may suffer undue hardship in paying any rent increase, can apply under this hardship clause. They will have to complete a weekly income and expenditure form and each application is reviewed on its merits. Regardless of any hardship claim, no rent will be reduced below the minimum rent. Hardship application forms are available from the Housing Directorate at phone number 0404 20120.

DATED 1ST JUNE 2011.