Public sector leases

Summary

A request was made for statistics on council tenants in fixed-term contracts and the legality of such agreements. The Department of Infrastructure disclosed specific tenant counts from June 2025 and confirmed the legal basis for tenancies, but noted it does not hold data on future contract placements.

Key Facts

• The information requested relates to Douglas City Council, a separate legal entity from the Department of Infrastructure.
• 1,589 council tenants are currently on 5-year fixed term contracts.
• 684 council tenants are on their original contracts.
• The Department does not hold information regarding when remaining tenants will be placed on fixed-term contracts.
• Public sector tenancies are governed by the Housing Act 1955 and the Landlord and Tenant (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

Data Disclosed

• 1,589
• 684
• June 2025
• 9 February 2026
• 5 March 2026
• Housing Act 1955
• Landlord and Tenant (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976
• 5294022

Exemptions Cited

• Information not held

Original Request

Please can I ask for the information on the below question 1- can I ask how many council tenants are now on a 5 year fixed term contracts? 2- how many council tenants are on their original contracts? 3- for all who are not on the fixed term contracts when will they be placed on those 5 year contracts 4- how legal are these contracts?.

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 5294022 5 March 2026

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 9 February 2026, which states:

"Please can I ask for the information on the below question

1- can I ask how many council tenants are now on a 5 year fixed term contracts?

2- how many council tenants are on their original contracts?

3- for all who are not on the fixed term contracts when will they be placed on those 5 year contracts

4- how legal are these contracts?."

Following the Departments request for further clarification, it was confirmed that the information sought relates to Douglas City Council. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested.
I have detailed below the information that is held:

1. 1,589
2. 684
3. Information not held
4. Public sector tenancies are legal and are governed by the Housing Act 1955 and the Landlord and Tenant (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

As the Department of Infrastructure and Douglas City Council operate as separate legal entities with their own responsibilities and records, the information outlined above reflects only the data held by the Department. This data was compiled in June 2025 and therefore may no longer represent the current position. For updated figures, you may wish to contact Douglas City Council directly.

Please quote the reference number 5294022 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.