COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, October 11, 2021

QUESTION NO.

QUESTION: Councillor Carly Bailey

How many houses have been acquired to meet the needs of medical priority housing households and what other measures and funding streams are available to assist this Local Authority in meeting the housing needs of such a vulnerable cohort.

REPLY:

In the last three years 15 homes have been acquired directly by the Council, with funding from the Department of Housing, Local Govenrment and Heritage, to meet the medical needs of households on the housing list.  The Council's current Acquisitions Strategy prioritises the purchase of homes to meet medical need.  A further 47 homes have been delivered through the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) by Approved Housing Bodies, supported by the Council, to meet medical or other priority needs in that period.

There have been 71, 44 and 37 allocations on medical priority respectively in 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021 together with a combined total of 17 transfers granted on medical grounds during 2020 and 2021 to households on the basis of meeting medical need.

Our construction and allocations teams continue to work on planning for new delivery of homes to meet the existing medical priority needs on our housing list and there are 12 specially adapted homes in our construction pipeline for completion in 2022. A further 14 homes are projected for completion between now and the end of 2022 by Approved Housing Bodies through CAS with the Council's support.  Further opportunities will continue to be explored for construction/acquisition of specially adapted homes directly by the Council, through CAS and through Part V social housing delivery.  In addition, any suitable homes becoming vacant in existing housing stock will also be used to meet medical priority housing needs where possible.