COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, June 13, 2022

QUESTION NO.6

QUESTION: Councillor T. Costello

To ask the Chief Executive for a report on the allocation of housing for age friendly housing to include, expressions of interest made and offers made by location

REPLY:

Eligibility for Age Friendly Housing

The categories of applicant eligible for Council owned or supported designated age friendly/older persons’ accommodation, all of whom must be aged 55 or older, are:

• One or two adult person households, with no dependent children, assessed as having a housing need and included on the Council’s housing list in accordance with the Council’s Allocations Scheme, including any person with priority for allocation on homeless or medical grounds;
• Current tenants of a Council home or an Approved Housing Body home, with no other persons living in their current property and who have been included on the Council’s transfer list on rightsizing grounds, i.e. wishing to move to accommodation that more appropriately meets their housing need
• Current owners of a private home, who have been included on the Council’s Community List (see further details on this list below).

An application for Age Friendly Housing whether through the housing, transfer (rightsizing) or contribution lists may be cancelled:

• If it is found to be based on false, withheld, invalid or otherwise incorrect information.
• on estate management grounds and/or if the applicant(s) have a prior record of anti-social behaviour (all applicants will be subject to relevant Garda and/or estate management checks and may have their application deferred por refused based on same)
• if the tenancy record is not satisfactory in relation to rent account, property condition etc.
• if an applicant(s) for the Community List is the owner of multiple properties

Allocation of Age Friendly Housing

Allocations to all Council properties are made according to the Council's Allocation Scheme including the Policy for Rightsizing and Allocation of Age Friendly Accommodation which provides that allocations for age friendly housing is based on the following:

• Eligible applicants for age friendly housing will be prioritised on a Time on List Basis. The relevant date for this basis will be the date upon which an approved application is included on the relevant list.
• Up to 10% of homes in new age friendly housing developments will, at first allocation, be made available to applicants from the Community List (this will increase to up to 50% of homes for community-led housing age friendly housing developments)
• All other homes in new age friendly housing developments will be used to meet new social housing demand and rightsizing transfer applications.
• Casual vacancies in age friendly accommodation will generally be made available in the same ratios as outlined above.
• Rightsizing applications from applicants with local connections to the area where age friendly accommodation is located will be prioritised for at least 75% of rightsizing allocations where possible
• Rightsizing/transfer applications will be prioritised from older persons in homes that are wheelchair accessible and/or specially adapted for medical purposes where this home is no longer required to meet the needs of the household currently residing there.
• A maximum of 25% of allocations in age friendly housing developments should be provided for persons aged 55 and over, but under 65 years old, until the end of 2022 when it will be subject to further review.
• Nothing in this policy shall prevent the Chief Executive from approving an allocation in exceptional circumstances.

Community List:

Recognising the potential need for age friendly housing amongst older persons that own private homes within a community, applications from older persons in their privately owned accommodation who wish to move to Council owned or supported designated age friendly accommodation will be considered for inclusion on a Community List subject to the following:

• The applicant(s) must be resident in South Dublin County, or demonstrate a local connection, and be eligible for older person’s accommodation
• The applicant agrees to the Council purchasing their property directly or, at the sole discretion of the Council, provides a financial contribution in lieu, from the net proceeds of the private sale of the property.
• The relevant property for sale, if being acquired by the Council, must be: located in South Dublin County, suitable to meet existing housing need and will be subject to acquisition limits as determined by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
• At certain times within the Council’s sole discretion, the Council may refuse to accept further Community List applications including where current demand exceeds by 100% or more the potential supply scheduled to become available within the next 12 months.
• Applicants will be included on the Community List upon the date of completion of a formal written agreement for: o the Council to purchase their property or o the applicant to provide a financial contribution to the Council from the net proceeds of the private sale of their property.
• Applicant(s) shall only be eligible for the allocation of one age friendly home and may be required to complete a pre-tenancy course before any allocation.
• Refusal of two offers of accommodation will result in cancellation of an application.
• Applicants will be required to become tenants of South Dublin County Council (or an Approved Housing Body) upon allocation of an age friendly home and will be required to sign a tenancy agreement and pay differential rent accordingly. Any persons wishing to apply for inclusion on the Community List are strongly advised to get independent financial and legal advice to fully understand the terms and conditions involved.

Community List: Discount on Purchase / Financial Contribution

The relevant discount on purchase to the Council or financial contribution to the Council for inclusion on the Community List under this policy is as follows:

Age Category	Council Discount on Purchase	Financial Contribution to the Council on Sale
55-64 years	40% discount on the market value	1/2 of net proceeds of sale
65-69 years	1/3 of net proceeds of sale
70-79 years	30% discount on the market value	1/4 of net proceeds of sale
80 years and over	1/5 of net proceeds of sale

A joint application, where the applicants’ ages fall into two different categories, will have the % discount or financial contribution calculated pro-rata accordingly.  Net proceeds shall exclude the discharge of any bona fide mortgage or charge on the property, legal fees incurred and/or other expenses solely related to the sale of the property.  The appropriate financial contribution must be paid, or a legally binding agreement must be in place to pay the contribution, in advance of an applicant moving into their new home.

Assessments of all eligible applications on the housing list (including medical and homeless applicants), on the transfer list (including rightsizing applicants) and community list are ongoing to commence proposed allocations and nominations to AHBs for pending new age friendly accommodation.  Some homes in Springifeld were advertised on Choice Based Letting in recent days and a similar approach will be taken in respect of developments at Sallaypark, Templeogue and Whitestown Way.  We also intend to develop a dedicated section on our website to showcase both the planned new age friendly housing developments and the benefits of rightsizing.