COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE (1)

Monday, February 16, 2009

QUESTION NO. 11

QUESTION: Councillor M. Corr

"To ask the Manager how long on average a housing list applicant must currently wait in order to be offered housing in the Tallaght area, what the refusal rate is currently at and how long it is taking to turn around vacant houses in the area?"

REPLY:

There are currently 5710 applications on the Council's Housing List of these 3810 applications have expressed a preference for accommodation in the Tallaght area.  The average waiting period on this list is 3 years.  29 dwellings have been allocated in the Tallaght area in 2009 to date, 9 refusals were received during the allocation process representing a 31% refusal rate (22% for 2008), 8 of these refusals were for newly constructed dwellings in the Kiltalown area.  Currently the turnaround period for vacant dwellings is 14 weeks.

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 reflect current housing circumstances.  Several policy changes occurred, 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 rather than on an estate basis.  

3.         The Scheme of Letting Priorities provides that where a valid offer of accommodation is made within a stated area of housing preference and that offer is refused, one further offer of accommodation will be advanced and where that subsequent offer is refused, their housing application is closed.  Furthermore, applicants are precluded from re-applying for Council housing for a period of one year.