11 homes re-possessed by Executive

Brian Donaldson • Published 7 Feb 2012 15:30

The high demand for property in Fermanagh has led to the Housing Executive regaining control over homes which had been let out to tenants but which had remained vacant.

The properties taken over by the Executive are then re-let to new tenants.

In total, 11 empty homes in Fermanagh were re-possessed by the Executive over the past nine months, it has reported this week.

They said the empty properties were identified with help from the local community, statutory agencies and through regular estate inspections by Housing Executive staff.

Michael Callaghan Fermanagh District Manager, explained, "When we identify a property that appears to be vacant, we serve an Abandonment Notice giving the tenant four weeks to contact us to confirm that they are still living there. If we confirm after further investigation that the property is vacant, we then take possession of it when the four weeks has passed.

"We accept that there can be reasons for a property being empty but it is wrong that some tenants are abusing social housing. Fermanagh is an area of very high demand and we will take action to ensure that any unoccupied homes are let to people who are in genuine housing need."

Michael Callaghan welcomed the support of the local community and encouraged anyone who suspects that a Housing Executive property is unoccupied to contact the Fermanagh Office on tel 03448 920 900.

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