Social Tenancies

Eamonn McLaughlin is one half of Housing Rights’s Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme.  Eamonn and his colleague  Maria travel across Northern Ireland offering free representation services to tenants and homeowners who have come to court to deal with mortgage or rent arrears.   Here, Eamonn discusses a recent morning at court when he met Grace, a Housing Executive tenant who’d fallen behind on her rent.

Our adviser Faith recently helped solve a serious financial problem for a vulnerable, elderly couple by asking the Ombudsman to investigate a decision taken by the Health & Social Care Trust.

Anti social behaviour is a complex issue and can be difficult to address. Anyone guilty of anti social behaviour can be at risk of losing their tenancy.

Safeguarding tenants from nuisance behaviour is an important responsibility of all social landlords, but it can be difficult for landlords to balance the rights of tenants who are complaining about antisocial neighbours with the landlord’s duties towards vulnerable tenants who may require support.