HAP case study: Cliff Daly and his flat in Wicklow

Cliff ‘Bobby’ Daly, who became homeless following the breakdown of a relationship in 2016, was approved for social housing by Wicklow County Council in September 2018. He worked throughout his homelessness and in September 2019 moved into a one-bedroom flat in Rathdrum, supported by the council. Though not in social housing, he is deemed “housed”.

The council pays the monthly rent, €800, to the landlord — Dublin businessman Peter Barr — while Mr Daly pays €30 a week to the council. “When I moved it was freshly painted. These were new floors. I was delighted to have a home, a place I could cook and wash. Everything seemed okay.

[ Number needing social housing ‘may be double’ estimates, at 122,000 ]

“But then in January, when I took down the artificial Christmas tree, there was just mould everywhere on the wall. I realised there was no air vents.”

He raised this with Mr Barr, who, he says “drilled holes in the walls from the inside”. He shows the holes in the walls. The landlord owns the three other flats in the building, all occupied by formerly homeless people on Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

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Their shared hallway is damp, with black mould around the main front-door. There are watermarks and cracks in the ceiling, through which water flows from the upstairs flat when its occupant showers, says Mr Daly. He shows a video of this happening. His flat is cold even on a sunny day. Wires are exposed on the main ceiling light, there is mould around sockets and watermarks are visible around the fuseboard. Mould-scarring is visible throughout; skirting boards are rotting; paint peels from the bedroom walls and plaster flakes off; floorboards are damp and lifting.

In the bathroom dozens of tiles have fallen from the wall, the electric shower — also with exposed wires — doesn’t work and there is no extractor fan or heating.

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Mr Daly says he asked Mr Barr to address the issues, with limited success. In February 2021 he turned to the council. In July a housing inspector visited and an improvement notice, seen by The Irish Times, was sent to Mr Barr on August 9th, requiring he ensure the dwelling’s electric system was safe, it was fire-safety compliant, and, that he ensure adequate heating and ventilation.

The flat remains in such condition that Mr Daly’s children, aged nine and 12, cannot visit as his older son has asthma.

On September 6th, 2021 Mr Barr issued Mr Daly with a seven-day notice to quit (NTQ) saying he had engaged in “antisocial behaviour” and injured him while he attempted to inspect the flat on August 28th. Mr Daly agrees he pushed Mr Barr out of the flat after he asked him to leave repeatedly.

Mr Barr brought a dispute to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) alleging Mr Daly was overholding (when a tenant remains in a property after a valid notice of termination has expired). Mr Daly alleged breach of landlord obligations and an illegal eviction notice.

Mr Barr did not attend the RTB hearing on December 10th, though he made submissions. In its ruling, issued in February, the board found Mr Barr had taken “some steps” to address maintenance issues and Mr Daly had breached his obligations in refusing the landlord access to the apartment in August.

It found Mr Daly was not overholding and had not behaved antisocially; and that Mr Barr had “breached” his obligations “by failing to carry out necessary repairs” and was ordered to pay Mr Daly damages of €1,772. He has not and his appeal will be heard by tribunal next month.

Mr Daly has thought about leaving. “I asked the council, ‘If I walk away can I get a homeless B&B?’ and they said, ‘You can’t do that because you’ll have made yourself homeless’. I can’t win. I am stuck.

“I feel on my own. I can’t believe Wicklow County Council is allowing this to happen.”

Mr Barr told The Irish Times it was only after he had issued a termination notice that Mr Daly “started claiming there were issues … to RTB and the council”. Mr Barr had however been issued with an improvement notice the month before. He said Mr Daly had “assaulted” him during the attempted inspection.

“Normally this guy would be long gone, but there are delays with the RTB and this has dragged on … I fully expect this tenant to be evicted at [the appeal hearing next month],” said Mr Barr.

Wicklow County Council did not provide a comment at the time of publication.