Outdated policy is forcing a County Armagh family, who have children with special needs, to stay in a house which one councillor declared: “I wouldn’t let my dog live in it.”
Lurgan-based Councillor Mary O’Dowd made the claim as a report on targets for environmental health in the year ahead was being considered.
The draft business plan was being presented to a committee meeting of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council when a number of issues of concern quickly came to light.
But it was Councillor O’Dowd’s remarks which shone a light on a situation which she felt far from ideal or satisfactory.
“We have a policy at the minute, whenever some of the officers go out to check a house and everything else and it is unfit for humans – and we can see it with our own eyes – but because of the way the policy is worded and laid out, nothing is done.,” she said. “There’s nothing that can be done, because the policy states.
“I have had officers out within this past two weeks at a house. I wouldn’t let my dog live in it, and that’s being honest.
“But because the way the policy is worded it is deemed fit for a human. I think that would need actually looked at.
“It was very disheartening for me to have to walk away from my constituent, who lives in a house that isn’t fit for anybody, with young children, and young children with special needs, that’s a private rental.”
It had been suggested that a working group or workshop might be organised to consider this and other matters.
Under the business plan, one of the remits is that council, “work collaboratively with Department for Communities and other councils to implement legislative provisions within the Private Tenancies (NI) Act 2022 to improve safety, security and quality of the private rented sector”.
In terms of actual targets contained in the draft plan, one was to “complete inspection and processing of 50% of applications under the Private Tenancies Order within three months of receipt”.
Sinn Fein Councillor Catherine Nelson felt that in itself warranted questions, and queried whether the number of staff needed to be increased “because demand and complaints are increasing”.
Upon reading the reports, she observed: “There was no clear anti-poverty lens, mentioning fuel poverty or damp homes, and damp homes is a big issue at the minute.
“I do think that staffing is a pressure and that is hampering some of what we’re trying to do. And I do think that I would welcome a workshop on that, on our staffing, to see is it recruitment wise? Is it the slowness of it? Do we need to pay them more? I would really like to get into the nitty gritty of why our staffing levels, we can’t consistently maintain them.”
Elizabeth Reaney, director of regulatory services, facilities and assets, said there was an “increasing demand being placed on councils” which was “coming from central government”.
There was, explained the director, increasing legislation being placed on councils with the need to find the resource to deliver on it around some of the public health and housing work which had been flagged.
“It may be appropriate to have a working group with members around housing matters,” she suggested.
Environmental health manager Judith Jordan highlighted that the concerns raised around policy may actually be to do with legislation instead.
She added: “We at every opportunity raise that the fitness standard that we have to assess is outdated and we have raised that on a number of occasions with the department, so yes, I welcome that opportunity that we’ll be able to discuss those issues and be able to get a bit of an understanding.”
In relation to the private tenancies inspections, and the 50% in three months target, this related “solely in relation to applications for inspections”.
“We carry out all of those inspections,” assured Ms Jordan, but it allowed for time taken to try and arrange those inspections through tenants and landlords and “allows for that buffer”.
She admitted there had been increased demand in relation to private tenancy and private rented sector over the past number of years.
“We have seen quite a number of new legislative provisions that have come on board in relation to notice to quit, landlord registration, smoke and heat alarms, electricals,” said Ms Jordan. “There has been quite a lot of new provisions, and we have had to be trying to implement those processes in our current staff and resource.”
