Donegal County Council has been asked to explore ways of buying homes in a Letterkenny housing estate to save residents from eviction.
Nineteen families in the Forest in Ballymacool were served eviction notices last week ahead of their homes being put up for sale by their landlord. Tenants have been given until April to find new accommodation.
The developer landlord said that the eviction notices were served ‘due to changes in the company’.
The urgent issue was raised by Letterkenny-Milford Mayor Kevin Bradley on Tuesday, who told the municipal district meeting that some of the residents have been living in the estate for up to 18 years.
“Every councillor is working hard here for them and if there’s anything we can do we are here for them,” said Cllr Bradley.
Cllr Gerry McMonagle and Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh both asked the council to consider buying the houses.
Cllr McMonagle said he believed some tenants would qualify for the Tenant in Situ Scheme, which allows Local Authorities to buy properties where tenants are facing eviction.
Cllr McMonagle said that the council is “still some time down the road from acquiring new houses” and that it should seek to strike a deal on the Ballymacool homes at a reasonable price.
Cllr Kavanagh added: “I know everybody has their own circumstances, but I think we should be talking to the Department and see the possibility of buying. A lot of this is going to end up back on the council’s lap anyway. We are in a fairly unique situation in Donegal with defective blocks and we should be making our case because those families will have to be housed.”
Seamus Canning, Area Manager, Housing & Corporate Services commented that the council would be happy to meet with tenants, but that the overall situation would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
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