Fingal County Council not communicating with tenants on rent increases, Donnelly says

Sinn Féin councillor Angela Donnelly has asked Fingal County Council to clarify when they communicated the rent increase to their tenants at a local area meeting on June 4th.

The response she received stated that “Fingal County Council issued an initial letter of notice to tenants on March 11th, which outlined changes to the Differential Rent Scheme.

A second letter of notice was issued to tenants on May 11th, which specified individual new rent charges.

The new differential rent scheme came into effect on April 25th, and changes to the scheme were also communicated via social media and website updates.”

The Ongar councillor accused Fingal County Council’s executive of ignoring Sinn Féin’s motion to pause rent increases.

The motion cited “rising fuel and oil prices” as a reason to halt recnt increases, which was initially agreed upon by council members.

“Despite the motion, the executive implemented rent hikes without proper communication, informing tenants about the increased payments only three weeks after the new scheme started,” Donnelly explained.

“This delay meant tenants owed additional rent for those three weeks. The rent increase raised the primary earner’s assessable income rate from 12% to 14.5%, and subsidiary earners also faced a charge of 14.5% of their income, capped at €60.00 per week. Cllr Donnelly sees this as a lack of awareness of the struggles faced by Fingal residents.”

Councillor Donnelly said, “these are exceptionally difficult times for people. The levels of anxiety we see from people who do not know how they are going to make ends meet are heartbreaking.”

“Sending letters to residents almost three weeks after the rent increase came into effect is unforgiveable and inexcusable from a council with the resources Fingal has. Residents in Fingal are now facing increased property tax, council rents, increased HAP differential payments, increased gas and electricity bills, as well as increased oil and fuel costs. When are ordinary people going to get a break?” she asked.