Council tenant ‘waiting eight years for repairs’

A SOCIAL housing tenant has alleged that he was told by Cork City Council in 2016 not to use his back yard until work on exposed drainpipes was completed, work which, eight years later, has yet to be done.

Michael Linehan, who lives in a council flat on Cherry Tree Rd, told The Echo that his housing officer had warned him on June 22, 2016, to stay out of the rear yard of the property until essential maintenance works could be carried out.

Mr Linehan said the works never occurred and, almost eight years later, he is “despairing” that it will ever happen.

A wastewater pipe runs from the upstairs flat down the back wall of the property, jutting from the wall at a 90-degree angle almost 3ft above ground level, crossing the entrance to the rear yard, constituting a trip hazard, before ing a ground-level drain.

Wastewater from this pipe, and from drainpipes from the ground-floor apartment, sits in a stagnant pool in the property’s back yard.

A shed, which runs the length of the yard, shows signs of subsidence, with deep cracks on the walls, while the roof appears to have broken almost completely loose off the walls.

Mr Linehan claimed he was told that the shed would need to be demolished so new drainage pipes could be laid, and in the eight years since, the condition of the building has deteriorated considerably.

He further alleged that he requested in 2018 that his bath be replaced with a shower, but this has yet to happen.

The underside of a balcony, which overlooks the entry way to Mr Linehan’s flat, is dilapidated, with crumbling concrete and exposed wiring.

There is mould and damp on the walls and ceiling of Mr Linehan’s kitchen, and he said he has asked that the council move him to more appropriate accommodation.

“I am petitioning Cork City Council, or the Government, to renovate this flat or to move me on,” he said.

“I’ve been asking for help since 2016, and I’ve not been answered.

“It’s very frustrating, and I really am despairing at this stage”.

William O’Brien, a community housing activist and an independent candidate in the local elections in the Cork South Central ward, said he had been taken aback by the conditions in which Mr Linehan was living.

“It’s just so common now that it’s just a daily issue now that people in so many council flats are looking at mould and damp in their homes,” said Mr O’Brien.

“We need investment, and we need to see housing officers.

“There’s housing officers who have thousands of houses to oversee, they can’t be everywhere, we need housing officers to engage with tenants one-to-one, face-to-face, and they could then link in with the local councillors and housing officers,” Mr O’Brien said.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said the council does not comment in regard to individual properties, but noted works had commenced on a planned set of internal repairs to apartments.

“This work has begun at Clashduv Rd before moving on to similar apartment blocks,” said the spokesperson.

“The Cork City Council customer service request centre is available to all tenants to report repair requests.

“These are then addressed by the relevant housing operations staff.”

The spokesperson added that “the external issues noted on the query will be added to the customer request management system”.