`EVICT DRUG DEALERS IN ESTATES' CALL TO COUNCILS

Drug dealers are still living in some council estates despite the fact that
local authorities can now evict tenants for anti-social behaviour,
according to a report launched yesterday.

The report calls for a clear policy in relation to increasing problems of
anti-social behaviour in council estates.

The study, launched by Dublin City Manager John Fitzgerald, was conducted
on behalf of Threshold and deals with estate management and anti-social
behaviour in Dublin.

It examines the impact of the Housing Act 1997 which empowered local
authorities to exclude tenants and remove squatters for anti-social
behaviour namely drug dealing, violence and intimidation and the right to
refuse to sell houses.

AUTHORITY RAPPED

Meanwhile, the Eastern Regional Authority which subsidises local authority
applicants to live in private houses, has been rapped for failing to keep
records on applications made by tenants already evicted for anti-social
behaviour.

The report points out that Dublin Corporation which has adopted procedures
to implement the provisions of the act, has no difficulty in using the
measures directly.

However, the other three authorities in the Dublin region are more likely
to adopt the indirect route towards exclusion by encouraging voluntary
surrender of a tenancy for anti-social behaviour or encouraging other
members of a household to exclude an individual.

The authors conclude that it appears to be debateable ``whether the key
drug dealers have been removed from local authority estates as a result of
the act''.

The report also acknowledges the difficulties for the local authorities in
trying to manage a housing stock ``in an environment of large pressures on
housing lists due to general housing shortages''.

In some areas market prices have led to an improvement of local authorities
estates because tenants who would previously have bought in the private
sector, are now buying council houses.

MIXTURE

``This brings a better mix to local authority estates and may contribute to
the stabilisation and development of these estates,'' said the report.

However, it concludes that the powers given to local authorities are
``little used'' although tenant organisations were found to have
established a good formal role in the process of tackling anti-social
behaviour in their communities.

The report recommends that local authorities should clearly state
procedures on how to implement the provisions of the act.

It also recommends that all contacts with tenants in relation to
anti-social behaviour should be recorded. The implications of anti-social
behaviour should be clearly explained in the tenant handbooks.

And the report says that for any initiatives to have an impact ``there must
continue to be improvements to the quality of life and opportunities for
residents on many local authority housing estates, in particular the young
adults and children''.