COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE (1)
Monday, April 21, 2008
QUESTION NO. 3
QUESTION: Councillor C. Jones
To ask the manager how many people are on the Council housing waiting list for the Tallaght South Electoral Area and what is the longest period of years that any one on the current list has been on the list?
REPLY:
There are currently 6365 applicants on the Council's Housing List , 3025 applicants have expressed a preference for accommodation in the Tallaght South housing area. The average waiting period on this list is 3.5 years.
The current Scheme of Letting Priorities as adopted by South Dublin County Council on 12th December 2005 and approved by the Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal on 20th December 2006 was implemented in June 2007 following notification to existing housing applicants and update of each application to refleclt current housing circumstances. Several policy changes occured, including:-
1. Applications are now considered on a Time on the List basis , rather than on a Points basis . It was agreed to allow existing applicants who had received points under the old Scheme to keep those points in order to maintain position on the list, these points will not change and from implementation date applications are considered on a time on list basis. All new applications will be considered on a time on list basis only.
2. Areas of housing preference are determined by reference to the Electoral Areas. Applicants are considered for housing on the basis of their stated areas of preference ratherAreas rather than on an estate basis.
3. The Scheme of Letting Priorities provides that where a valid offer of accomodation is made within a stated area of housing prefernece and that offer is refused, one further offer of accommodatin will be advanced in an alterantive housing area of their choice and where that subsequent offer is refused, their housing appliation is closed. Furthermore, applicants are precluded from re-applying for Council housing for a period of one year.
The average waiting time for a house is approximately 3 years, however approx. eleven no. applicants have been on the list for an average of 9 years because of repeat refusals of offers of accommodation. The previous scheme of Letting Priorities made no provision for removal from the housing list where a valid offer of accommodation was made.