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Local Authority Housing

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 July 2020

Tuesday, 28 July 2020

Ceisteanna (326)

Gino Kenny

Ceist:

326. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of households that each local authority has removed from the housing list as a result of not responding to the housing needs assessment in each of the years 2015 to 2019 and to date in 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18006/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The oversight and management of the lists of qualified households awaiting accommodation, including the allocation and transfer of tenancies, is a matter for the relevant local authority in accordance with Sections 20 and 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated Social Housing Assessment and Allocation Regulations, respectively.

Under Regulation 28 of the Assessment Regulations, a household’s qualification for support may be reviewed at the discretion of a local authority and Regulation 29 provides that the household’s qualification for support shall be reassessed at the point of allocation of support. If upon review, a household is found to exceed the limits on income eligibility grounds, for example, they would be removed from the list.

Furthermore, authorities are also required, when directed by the Minister, to undertake a statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA) to count the number of households on the waiting list for social housing supports whose need has not yet been met. The SSHA process requires all local authorities to review those households who are on their housing list but who are not currently in receipt of housing support.

As part of this assessment, all local authorities write to relevant households informing them of the assessment process and seeking updated information where necessary. Where a number of attempts to contact a household fail to elicit a response, authorities are advised that it is not unreasonable to then close the household’s application. However, local authorities are also advised that should the household subsequently respond with the information required within a reasonable time, the application could be re-activated.

The SSHA has been conducted on an annual basis since 2016, prior to which it was carried out once every three years, with the last Summary under this approach having taken place in 2013. Complete national data on the number of households removed from housing lists due to not responding to local authorities in 2016-2018 is not available. However, data for 2019 indicated that just over 2,000 households were removed from the list as part of the 2019 process for failure to engage with the local authority by the relevant date. My Department does not have data as to how many were subsequently reinstated due to contact with the local authority after the date of the SSHA count.

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