COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 08, 2019

QUESTION NO. 18

QUESTION: Councillor M. Duff

In view of the recently published Rent Arrears, could the Chief Executive please advise this Council if a mechanism exists in the rent collection system to flag individual tenant arrears, before the arrears reach unmanageable proportion?

REPLY:

The Rents Section have implemented an 'Action Plan for Arrears by Area' using an enhanced area based approach by our team of Housing Inspectors to proactively address and manage rent arrears.  Our inspectors engage with tenants in arrears to establish Debt Management Plans (DMPs) allowing tenants to manage their rent arrears in a sustainable manner with over 1,100 tenants on active DMPs.

Our arrears and debt management processes also involve early engagement with tenants in relation to rent missed payments through correspondence, calls and call-outs.

In addition, the Council's Online Rents App is available from Google Play Store or Apple Store.  This app allows all tenants to manage their rent account on their smart device at any convenient time 24/7.