Dublin City Council is owed more than €38 million in rent arrears from social housing tenants.
The average weekly rent charge is €72.54 across the Council's 25,159 tenancies. A report due to be presented to DCC's Finance Committee states that just under a third of all these tenancies - 8,050 - are in rent arrear.
And 51 tenants owe more than €27,000 each, while a further 136 owe between €19,000 and €27,000. Another 589 households have rent arrears of between €11,000 and €19,000.
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However, the report which was signed by Executive Manager Frank d'Arcy stated the majority of the €38 million owed is being "addressed". It reads: "An analysis of rent accounts in arrears shows that 61% are paying over the rent charge and are in a performing agreement.
"In other words, it is estimated that approx. €22.M of the €38.1m rent arrears is being addressed by tenants and those accounts are actively monitored by the Rents Section to ensure that agreements are maintained."
It will take the "average" tenant who has agreed to pay off their debt "many years" to do so. The report adds: "For information, an average agreement would see a tenant paying their weekly rent with an additional €10 per week off arrears.
"At this rate it will take a tenant many years to clear large rent arrears e.g. 20 years to pay€10,000, therefore, it will be some time before there is any significant impact on the overall arrears figure of €38M."
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