Returning a council house

my friend and her partner and their child are returning their council house to buy a private house as they are now in a position to do so. They both work full time and pay unbelievably high rent in their council house because of this. they hate where they are living because of the anti social behaviour and want to move onwards and upwards.

Anyway, they have been told that firstly they won't get a cent for returning their house even though they have put a fortune into it. bear in mind that when they moved in the majority of tenants went to social welfare and got cheques for their furniture etc. where as my friends didn't because they were working. Years ago there was a cash incentive for returning your council house. Why not anymore? Why not encourage people to better themselves. Also they have to sign an agreement that they will never look for a council house again. is that not going against human rights. Please God all will go well for them but noone knows what financial position they will be in 10 years down the line. i think this is disgraceful.

I agree it seems odd that they must sign an agreement that they will never apply for a council house again, saw a report recently regarding house repossions on the rise in Ireland as people strugle to cope....and we all need soomewhere to live....
Seems like your friends are trying to do the right and being punished for it. mabye they can slip a politician a brown envelope with a few quid in it in the future, should they ever need the services of council accommodation again(hopefully not)

Margie said:

Also they have to sign an agreement that they will never look for a council house again.

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Why would they sign it? After all, what can the council do if they won't - refuse to take the house back?

gonk said:

Why would they sign it? After all, what can the council do if they won't - refuse to take the house back?

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I thought of that also but seemingly its something to do with getting out of their current tenancy agreement.

Margie said:

I thought of that also but seemingly its something to do with getting out of their current tenancy agreement.

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Sounds very odd. If the agreement never to seek council housing again doesn't already form part of their tenancy agreement, how can the council compel them to sign it at this stage?

They need to get legal advice on this before signing anything.

Margie said:

Years ago there was a cash incentive for returning your council house. Why not anymore? .

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Margie
i received this 3 years ago and as far as i know its still in place. i got 11k paid down to me over a 5 yr period. I have 2 years left. It is in fact the dept of environment who pays this to your mortgage lender and they in turn pay it into your account.

maybe im wrong, although i dont think so.. Maybe your friend should dig a bit deeper for info

Signing agreements stating they`ll never seek further accomodation from the council - harsh.

I think ex council tenants get a mortgage subsidy/ allowance over 5 years as advised by last post. It amounts to 11k. At least something...

Very interesting. And does this apply to my friends who are getting a 100% mortgage from Permanent tsb Tipperary area.

an update:

my friends have applied for the mortgage allowance scheme to their local county council. the two criteria which must be met are that 1. the rent is up to date and 2. the house is in perfect condition.

BUT the local town council are insisting that they sign a document waivering their right to ever get council housing again. They don't want to sign it as they feel it is not a legitimate document but the local council have been so difficult with them that now they are afraid if they don't sign it that they might not get the allowance which is over €11,000.

and may i point out that only for this website they would never have known anything about this scheme. the local council told them initially that they were entitled to nothing.

If they're getting allowances from the council to assist them in the purchase of their house, I don't see why they would not sign the document, unless frankly they were overextending themselves and felt that they would need to go back to council housing.

I agree that they should have been informed up front about any allowances to which they might have been entitled, but to suggest that they're being badly treated by the council other than on that specific issue doesn't seem reasonable to me.

Hi Margie,
If I were your friends I would sign, circumstances do change. There was a time when only first time buys were able to buy affoardable housing. Yet I know of a woman who was able to do so after her marraige split up.

All I can say to you friends is to let go and move on. And be happy about doing so, they could be very lucky and never need the use of a council house...
P

If they are looking for money, tell them to buy the house of the council and then sell it and move or keep it and rent it out.

Your friends should really assess all options before deciding to give the property back.

pinkyBear said:

Hi Margie,
There was a time when only first time buys were able to buy affoardable housing. Yet I know of a woman who was able to do so after her marraige split up.
P

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married couples who have split up and where one of them lose the family home as a consequence are considered first time buyers again

If i could just make the point that they are delighted to be moving on and buyin their own home. they are also delighted that they are entitled to something back as over the last few years they have put a fortune into their house. the main reason they are leaving is because of antisocial behaviour from a neighbour to the point that they had to get a solicitor involved to keep the peace because the council didn't want to know. they have been treated very badly by the council - telling them that they were enitled to nothing is a disgrace as far as i'm concerned.

what i would worry about is if god forbid their circumstances drastically changed in the next ten years or so - if they sign the form what do they do then? is this form legal? i think it is a method of intimidation.