COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, February 11, 2019

QUESTION NO. 19

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive to present an updated report on his actions to deal with the ongoing housing/homeless crisis and in reporting will he confirm the number of applications from each Electoral Area currently under consideration and will he make a statement.

REPLY:

There are currently 7,224 applications on the Council's social housing waiting list of which 624 are homeless applicants. The electoral areas from which these applicants are from is as follows:

Electoral Area	No. Applications
Clondalkin	1,334
Lucan	812
Rathfarnham	252
Tallaght Central	1,217
Tallaght South	1,208
Rathfarnham-Templeogue-Terenure	244
Outside South Dublin	2,157

Increased supply of accommodation options including permanent and long-term homes as well as appropriate temporary and emergency homeless accommodation is critical to responding to the current demand for housing.

In 2019 it is anticipated that there will be delivery of 444 additional homes for social housing applicants in the County (348 Build, 46 Acquisitions & 50 Leasing) through our housing supply capital programme will be complemented by over 100 re-lets of existing housing stock and some 700 Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) tenancies. 

The 2019 delivery is being supplemented by the progression of a number of larger projects for delivery of homes in the County including:

• Construction of 109 social homes at Corkagh Grange under the national PPP bundle - construction scheduled to commence in March;
• The Kilcarberry Integrated Housing Project to deliver 978 homes including 294 social homes - currently at pre-planning stage with An Bord Pleanala;
• Master-planning of large Council owned sites at Rathcoole, Belgard Square North, Killinarden and Clonburris for housing development.

The Council continues to progress our social housing construction plans at the sites identified to the Elected Members at the Special Council Meeting on Housing last October as well examining ongoing opportunities for delivery of additional homes through build, acquisition and leasing including through Part V and in partnership with Approved Housing Bodies.

Family hubs are considered part of the current response to homelessness by providing improved security of tenure for families progressing from self-accommodation and emergency accommodation with the Council having provided 135 family hub spaces to date at Springfield, Tallaght Cross, Abberly/High Street and Firhouse. The improved security of tenure offered by family hubs allows such families time to be supported by the Council’s place-finder team and by key-workers in family hubs to source more secure accommodation through Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) tenancies or social housing. Spaces in family hubs subsequently freed up are then generally allocated on a time-on-list basis to other homeless families that have spent time in emergency, night-by-night accommodation and/or have been self-accommodating.

Having regard for the current levels of homeless applicants, the Council continues to examine potential sites for developing further supported accommodation for homeless persons across the County who also are supported by:

• Advice, information, signposting to central placement and other emergency/temporary accommodation options by our Homeless Unit.
• Our outreach support service to link with support services, other agencies and accommodation options.