Unauthorised subletting of council homes ‘widespread’

THE unauthorised subletting of local authority properties may be more widespread than officials currently believe.

That’s according to Fianna Fáil Cllr Alan Cheevers, who raised the issue at this month’s meeting of Galway City Council.

Cllr Cheevers referred to a recent case in which a council property was allegedly sublet by the registered tenant to another person.

He said legal action was needed to recover possession of the property and added that he could not name the area involved for legal reasons.

He asked what level of due diligence and auditing was being carried out by the local authority to detect subletting.

In particular, he highlighted situations where tenants might be living with a partner while retaining a separate council property and collecting rent from it.

“Tenants may be living with their partner, who has a separate property, and getting rent out of their own,” he said.

He told officials that subletting was “a bigger issue than you are making out” and said greater oversight may be needed.

In response, council officials said they did not believe subletting was a “huge problem” in the city’s housing stock.

They said that when cases were identified, the council acted immediately and used available legal mechanisms to address breaches of tenancy agreements.

In response to Cllr Cheevers’ comments, officials added that the matter would be examined further.

They acknowledged that if evidence showed subletting was more prevalent, the council will take a more proactive approach.

“We need to be more proactive,” they said. “If it is an issue, we will tackle it.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.