Donegal County Council has been urged to begin issuing Letters of Assurance to homeowners left unable to sell their homes after remediation under the Defective Concrete Blocks scheme.
Those who have remediated their homes without full demolition are entitled to a letter which gives the right to apply for a second grant under the scheme for that property, subject to specific conditions, within 40 years.
Despite this, the council has heard that homeowners in Donegal who completed grant options 2 to 5 have not yet received any letter.
100% Redress Councillor Ali Farren brought the issue before the council this week, stating that letters of assurance are coming out “quite efficiently” in Mayo, but not in Donegal.
“There are lots of people that have proceeded with the scheme and want to move on and sell their properties. They were told they would get a guarantee. As of yet, we still haven’t seen a guarantee,” Cllr Farren said.
Donegal County Council said it has been in discussions with the Department of Housing about the process of issuing these Letters of Assurance.
It is expected that the procedures for this will be “clarified shortly”.
100% Redress Party members Ali Farren and Joy Beard said that responsibility lies with the council to issue the letters in line with regulation.
“Homeowners that have completed their builds under the DCB scheme were promised that 40 year guarantee and with that a formal letter of assurance, yet not one letter was issued in Donegal,” said Cllr Beard.
“Families need to move on with their lives, some need to relocate, maybe due to illness, employment or personal circumstances. Currently they are trapped in limbo and can’t sell their homes without that official letter of assurance.”
The council is due to provide an update at the next meeting of the Defective Concrete Blocks Committee.
