Archive for the ‘housing’ Category

Drynam Hall Survey

Monday, March 16th, 2009

The issue of management fees and the fact that Drynam Hall residents are ensnared in a management company which sees bills of hundreds of euro being levied every year is not going away.   

In fact as the economic crisis worsens the urgency to address this issue has increased. Many residents object to paying the charge as a matter of principle. Now with rising taxes, pay cuts and job losses many more cannot afford to pay! This issue is a time bomb waiting to explode. It is an absolute disgrace that the government has failed despite promises to bring forward legislation to deal with this injustice.  

Prior to Christmas we began a survey of Drynam Hall residents on their attitude to the management company presently and into the future. 

The door to door survey from October / November was halted in the run up to Christmas due to a mixture on dark evenings, weather conditions and scarce time availability from volunteers.  

Now in order to expedite the completion of the survey a print out of the questions is available on the reverse of this leaflet. We are asking you to please take the time to complete it and drop it back to the address at the bottom without delay. 

On completion of the survey a presentation of its finding will be made at a local meeting and a way forward will be discussed. It is hoped that a steering committee formed from local residents opposed to the management charges will take the campaign to the next level. 

At the 40% mark, the overwhelming majority of respondents seek the removal of the current management company and the taking in charge of the estate by the local authority where central taxation will fund services currently covered by estate management fees. This would bring the tax burden of residents in Drynam hall into line with that of the rest of the country, avoiding paying twice for one service and bringing equity to the situation. 

[text of leaflet accompanying Survey Sheet dropped in Drynam Hall 13/03/2009]

Housing Crisis – Bail out residents not developers!

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

More than anything else the present housing crisis shows the madness of the market. Over 5000 families on the housing waiting list in Fingal, 40,000 nationally, condemned to wait for years to be accommodated while at the same time Davy Stockbrokers estimate there are over 250,000 unoccupied properties! So the problem is not that there are not enough houses  but that these properties are privately owned in many instances by the same builders who are in debt to the banks.

Rather than seizing these dwellings to settle the debts to the banks that are now owned by the tax-payer or forcing them to sell at a knock-down price so that those who need a home can be bailed out, Fianna Fail & the Greens have instead come up with a new scam to bail out the builders.

The poor developers are being offered a windfall on these properties that they can’t sell!!! The Councils are being ordered to enter into a 20 year lease with any developers who want to make available the properties they can’t get rid of. The Councils will pay for the management and maintenance of the units and put tenants in. At the end of the 20 years when the property has been paid for by the taxpayer, the poor hardpressed developer can sell it at an appreciated price for total profit and the Council can go looking for alternative accommodation for the residents living in them who can go back to being homeless!!! Yet another example of taking from the poor to give to the rich!