Family had ‘no option’ but to move unpermitted into council house

A local authority has no suitable council accommodation for a couple and their five young children who say they had "no option" but to move into an empty council house without permission, the High Court has heard.

John Paul Doyle and his wife Frances urged the court in a letter to “please, please help us” and said they would do anything to put a roof over their children’s heads.

Longford County Council said it already has 1,220 people on its housing list, and intends to allocate the three bedroom house to another family, the court heard. It said the house is unsuitable for a family of seven and it does not know when it will have a "suitable" house. The council contends the Doyle family "jumped the queue", the court heard.

The Doyles, who were in court without legal representation, said the house was “a mansion” as far as they were concerned and they would happily take it if it was offered to them.

The council has brought proceedings to have the family removed from the empty council house at Casey Court, Kenagh, Co Longford after they moved into it some weeks ago.

The council said the family have no permission to be in the three bedroom house and want a High Court injunction requiring them to leave.

The court heard that the family accept they are “in the wrong” in relation to entering the house but, in a letter to the court, said they had “no option” but to move in given their circumstances and health.

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan heard on Tuesday that the council is not seeking to have them removed from the property in the coming days but it does want to offer the house to another family on its housing list.

Following a suggestion by the judge, the matter was adjourned so the parties could work together to see if alternative private rented accommodation could be secured for the Doyle family.

Paul Gunning BL, for the council, said it has more than 1,220 people on its housing list. The house had already been offered to a family on the list, who turned it down and it will now be offered to another family, counsel said.

Counsel said the local authority appreciated the Doyle’s difficult situation and that they have been on the housing list for two years. By moving into the house they “jumped the queue”, he said.

Mr Gunning said the Doyles have been approved for rent allowance, which should help them secure private rented accommodation.

They had been living in private rented accommodation but had to leave that after their landlord decided to take back that house for personal use.

The family had been offered, but had refused, emergency accommodation at a hostel, counsel added.

The council has no suitable house available for the Doyles and their family, he said. A three bedroom house is not deemed suitable for a family of seven, the court heard.

In response to the judge, counsel said it was not known when the local authority would be able to provide the family with a suitable house.

In a letter to the court, the Doyles said their children and their own health had suffered and asked the court to “please please help us”. They accepted they were wrong to move into the house but said they saw “no other way out” and would “do anything to put a roof over their children’s heads.”

The council had not helped them and it was unfair that a woman living alone was given a five bedroom house in another part of Longford by the council, they said. They are prepared to pay rent and bills if they got a house, they added.

Mr Justice Gilligan said, while it was accepted the family were in the wrong, he expressed his concern they could be put out on the street with nowhere to go. He added that parties involved in cases should not write to judges.

The judge adjourned the case to next month to see if the council could help secure accommodation in the private sector for the family. In the meantime, the sides should cooperate with each other, he urged.