COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, June 08, 2015
QUESTION NO. 12
QUESTION: Councillor S. Holland
Please advise in what order housing allocations are made from the critical, vital and homeless lists, eg, if a house is refused or not suitable for someone on the vital list, does it then default to critical or to homeless? Please provide a copy of the procedural doc, if any.
REPLY:
The Council Allocation Scheme outlines the "Priority Status" as follows:
Priority Status
"In certain circumstances, overall priority will be given to applicants that satisfy the following criteria. Priority will be granted in the order shown hereunder and subject to the availability of suitable accommodation at the time:
(i) Families or persons living in dangerous premises on whom a requisition under Section 3 (9) of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1964 has been served.
(ii) Displacement (resulting from acts of the Local Authority).
(iii) Families or persons rendered homeless through no fault of their own. A person shall be regarded by a housing authority as being homeless for the purposes of this Act if:
(a) there is no accommodation available which, in the opinion of the authority, he/she, together with any other person who normally resides with him/her or who might reasonably be expected to reside with him/her, can reasonably occupy or remain in occupation of, or
(b) he/she is living in a hospital, County home, night shelter, or other such institution and is so living because he/she has no accommodation of the kind referred to in paragraph (a), and he/she, in the opinion of the authority, unable to provide accommodation from his/her own resources.
(iv) Families or persons evicted through no fault of their own on foot of a Court Order who are not in a financial position to provide their own housing.
(v) Exceptional medical/compassionate grounds.
(vi) Persons aged 65 or over for Older Persons accommodation.
Applicants with overall priority will be given priority over other applicants in the allocation of available accommodation in the order of priority indicated above and based on time on the list and subject to the availability of suitable accommodation at the time.
Where priority for housing accommodation is claimed on grounds consisting of or including medical grounds, regard shall be had to the report of the Council’s Medical Advisors."
We must also take into consideration the Minister for the Enviornment Community and Local Goverenment Directive issued on the 27th January 2015 whereby "at least 50% of the dwellings available for allocation under Section 22 of the 2009 Act during the specified period will be allocated to" homeless and vulnerable "households that are qualified for social housing support (i.e. those who are on the record of qualified households) and that, on or before 1 December 2014"
As indicated consideration is firstly taken of the suitability of available properties. Any property that is deemed to be suitable for a medical application or has been medically modified will be offered to an applicant who has the highest rating and is compatible with the property, e.g. if the property is wheelchair accessible or a ground floor dwelling, it will be offered to the applicant with the highest rating and the most vital need for this specification.
The procedure for Medical is outlined in the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 which requires that applicants seeking housing on medical/disability grounds require the following original documentation: a Medical Consultant’s Certificate specifying the nature of the medical condition or disability and noting whether the condition is degenerative, or an Occupational therapist’s report in respect of any specific accommodation requirements ( if any). These documents are submitted to the Medical Referred for adjudication.
South Dublin County Council operates a Medical Rating Policy whereby the Medical Referee rates an application with the following:
| Rating | Explanation |
| 5 | Appropriate Housing when available |
| 10 | Imperative Housing when available |
| 12 | Urgent need for Housing |
| 15 | Critical Need for Housing |
| 20 | Vital need for Housing |
Subsequent to the rating awarded, the applicant is listed based on date of being awarded priority. If the property is refused, the property is awarded the next applicant on the list with the highest rating. A homeless person in emergency accommodation with medical priority will automatically get a higher priority over those who have accommodation available to them.