Cllr William Carey has called for a faster turnaround of properties that become available for new tenancies. Cllr Carey was reacting to information provided by SDCC. Following a question put to the Chief executive at a recent council meeting with regard to properties being turned around, it was revealed that “the re-let period from surrender of property to allocation of new tenancy (key to key) currently averages 19 weeks”. The local Councillor stated that 19 weeks is “far too long” and I believe that it’s reasonable to expect that turnaround could be done within a maximum of between 10/12 weeks and certainly reduce the average by much, much, more, particularly given that there are over 11,000 people on the South Dublin waiting list for a home.
In the reply to Cllr Carey’s question, SDCC outlined the process involved and the works that are often entailed. Cllr Carey added that it is understandable that a period of time must be given over to maintenance and possible improvement but there is not a contractor in the country who could not turn such works in a matter of weeks rather than months. The period of offering a potential tenant a home cannot be used as an excuse for delaying this turnaround. It should be possible for these processes to take place simultaneously. Cllr Carey concluded by saying that it should become a priority for SDCC to reduce this turnaround time. It undermines all the good work being done by SDCC when the public sees houses boarded up for months at a time and work only happening intermittently.
