Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 May 2021
262. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of persons on the housing list for County Kildare approved for HAP but not in receipt of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27617/21]
View answerHAP is a form of social housing support for people who have a long-term housing need. In order for a household to qualify for HAP, they must first be assessed as eligible for social housing support by their local authority. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP and those households must source their own accommodation in the private rental sector. At the end of Q4 2020, Kildare had 2,398 households in receipt of HAP.
Details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority area is provided in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). Full details in relation to the 2020 assessment are available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/62486-summary-of-social-housing-assessments/. The SSHA 2020 shows that there were 3,104 households on the Kildare County Council social housing waiting list at 2 November 2020.
Legislation provides that HAP is considered to be a form of social housing support. Households in receipt of HAP are therefore, not eligible to remain on the main housing waiting list. However, acknowledging that some households on the waiting list, who avail of HAP, have expectations that they would receive a more traditional form of social housing support, recipients can avail of a move to other forms of social housing through a transfer list.
For those households on a housing waiting list, the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 requires that all housing authorities make an allocation scheme determining the order of priority to be accorded in the allocation of dwellings to households qualified for social housing support and to households approved for a transfer.
The practical operation of transfer lists is a matter for each local authority to manage, on the basis of their own scheme of letting priorities, and the number of persons on the housing transfer list is also a matter for each individual local authority.
