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SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 12, 2022

QUESTION NO. 20

QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons

To ask the Chief Executive for a detailed report into how many are registered as needing housing under medical priority? Report to include the average waiting time for this and how medical priority is assessed.

REPLY:

There are currently 378 households on this Council's Housing List that have been awarded medical priority, of which 82 households specifically require wheelchair accommodation.

The breakdown of the households approved for medical priority by area of preference and bedroom size is as follows:

Medical Priority Need	North of Naas Road	South of Naas Road	Total
1-bed	52	80	132
2-bed	34	45	79
3-bed	59	54	113
4-bed	19	35	54
Total	164	214	378

Since 2019, 246 households have been allocated accommodation based on medical priority, with an average time* on list of just over 8 years as follows:

Year	2019	2020	2021	2022	Total
No. of Medical Priority Allocations	71	44	68	63	246

*It should be noted that applicants for medical priority may have been on the housing list for significant periods before applying for/being approved for medical priority and, additionally, the average waiting time may also be affected by the need for specially adapted accommodation which may not be readily available within current housing stock necessitating the planning and construction of such properties to meet a household’s specific needs.

Following revised procedures introduced in 2021, approved applicants for social housing supports can apply for medical priority by completing the appropriate form (HMD Form 1) which must be supported by two medical practitioners.  All such forms received are assessed by the Council’s independent medical referee who, based on the information submitted, will determine whether the provision of accommodation by the Council is required to assist with or improve the household’s medical circumstances outlined.  Please see https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/housing/finding-a-home/medical-priority-housing/hmd-form-1-disability-and-or-medical-information-form.pdf for further details.

The Council’s Housing Delivery Action Plan 2022-2026 commits to the provision of appropriate accommodation to meet the prevailing medical housing need and 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 in particular wheelchair accessible/liveable and specially adapted units.