LA have reduced the RAS Scheme Rent but wont move the tenant. What are my options?

T

Tomjim

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I have a house rented to Westmeath Co council for the last 5 years for €750 per month under the RAS scheme.

The lease is now up and they have offered me €500 per month. I have appealed their decision and told them it was worth €600 to €650 per month based on rents in the area.

What will happen? What can I do?

I would like to continue renting to council as it is very stable income.
 
The rent offered under the RAS scheme is generally set in line with the maximum rent limits for Rent Supplement paid by the Dept of Social Protection.

The current maximum rent limit for Westmeath is €500 per calendar month.

You should weigh up the impact of getting the guaranteed income from the council for the full term of the lease against possible gaps in tenancies and income if you rent it out yourself.
 
To make it easier for you Tomjim. If you are losing 100 a month on the council deal, so 1200 a year. That works out at about 2 months rent. But most landlords have voids of between one and 2 months. Plus you've the peace of mind for 5 years. And it's worked well for you so far.
 
if you have a good tenant, no hassle, regular guaranteed payment, you need to seriously think about the downside of going back to the market. I was in a similar boat previously and I managed to split the difference with them as they would have the hassle of moving the tenant to new accommodation.
 
It's a new lease, so you are not bound by the offer and can walk away from RAS if you wish (mid lease adjustments have to be adjudicated by an independent valuer if a dispute arises and both parties agree to be bound by their decision on market rent).

If your REALLY believe you can get €1200-€1800 a year more (and believe that to be sustainable) then you need to consider if RAS is for you.

Btw, you don't "appeal" their decision. You are not at their mercy-it's your decision to stay with them or not.

What's the local rental market like where you are? Many units empty or good occupancy rates? You need to carefully consider all those things.
 
You've appealed the decision saying the rent should be 600-650 per month based on the local rents.

Yet you were charging 750 ?

I'm not criticizing - just smiling at your cheek.
 
How many are in the family that the council are paying for ie adults/children
 
I have same issue in Dublin, they are paying €880 for a 2 bed and the market rent is €1,200.

I'm not renewing the contract and now I'm having trouble getting them out. They are saying they will move the tenant when they find somewhere to move them to and they will continue paying the rent in the meantime, the €880 not the €1,200.
 
As soon as your contract expires serve your normal notice of termination on the tenants. Let them pressure the council for a new home. You're not a charity and that's a huge annual difference.
 
The contract expired on 1st March and the termination notice was served in January of 112 days notice so they should have been out by 14th May. They are still there, the council don't care that they break the law, the tenants I have no issue with but the council are tinkers
 
Have you started the procedure with the PRTB to get possession? I understand the tenants are not at fault but you have to do what you have to do.
 
I havent started the prtb procedure because I have even less faith in them than the council. Am I wrong to think this. Any advice is most welcome
 
This is amazing. I would agree with jonocon about PRTB especially if adjudicating between a LL and the local authority.

However, it's still best to go through the motions with PRTB just to show what a good law-abiding person jonocon is.

At the same time I'd recommend a solicitor's letter. Again, mainly for the record, showing how you've tried everything through legal channels. There should be compensation here and the more jonocon has does everything correctly the more chance he has of getting some compo.

I don't know how far jonocon wants to go with publicity but for a local authority to behave almost like a squatter would seem to warrant contacting the media.

P.S. Would it worth jonocon advertising the apt and getting expressions of interest from potential private tenants -just to prove that he is losing xyz euros a month ?
 
I am a member on another board and one of the posters had extreme difficulty with RAS tenants/council. She was left with no rental income for 8 months and when she eventually managed to have the tenants removed the house was trashed and she had to pay thousands to have it properly sorted out. She then decided to quit the RAS scheme and rent the house privately.
 
I need to reitterate that I have no issue with the tenants, they are very very good. My issue is with the council who won't pay me a fair rent and won't leave even though the contract expired in March 2013. When I told them i will be taking them through the PRTB they said "good luck with that, we are pretty sure they won't throw a family with 2 kids on the street" I mean do i not have property rights? I kept my end of the contract for 4 years and all i want now is my property back. I told them I have a tenant to move in, which I do, and they basically said we will move them, but we can't tell you when. It is unbelievable
 
I repeat you must go to law asap and claim compensation. This will go round in ever delaying circles until you face DCC legally.

If you have an anti-LL attitude from some left wing job-protected civil servant then you'll have a long long wait until they do anything unless you start proceedings now.

..and as you say it's not a question of throwing kids on the street- it's a question of you getting a fair price.
 
Thanks for the feedback. i have a solicitor for other stuff, would you suggest i get him to send a letter to them?
 
Yes.yesterday. And ,despite your and my misgivings about PRTB it will help your case if it can be shown if you do everything "correctly".
 
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