Council Needs Stronger Powers against Anti-Social Tenants
Sinn Féin Councillor Chris O’Leary has called for the local authority to be given stronger powers to tackle anti-social tenants.
Reacting to the publication of the council’s new strategy for dealing with anti-social behaviour last night, Cllr O’Leary stated:
“This is a positive document with a lot of good ideas. It lays out clearly how the council plans to deal with complaints of anti-social behaviour, including against council tenants. The kind of clear and transparent procedure laid out in this document is badly needed.”
“My concern is that national legislation in this area has yet to catch up with the council’s thinking. The fact is the Housing Act is not designed to make it easy for local authorities to evict anti-social tenants. On the contrary, we are all well aware of cases that have dragged through the courts for months without reaching a successful resolution.”
“As we speak, law-abiding citizens in certain estates in this city are being terrorised by a small minority of anti-social thugs who make the lives of their neighbours a misery. It is simply not acceptable that decent families should be unable to occupy their homes in peace because the council does not have the powers to deal effectively with anti-social elements. While I welcome today’s proposals I also believe we need a change in national legislation to make it easier for councils to evict problem tenants from their properties.”
For further information or comment contact Cllr Chris O’Leary @ 087-2794307
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