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SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, February 13, 2023

QUESTION NO. 20

QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons

To ask the chief executive For a report on Time people are on SDCC housing list. Report to include if he has considered introducing a numbering time on list system like DCC do, and if not why?

REPLY:

The table below shows the breakdown of the Council's social housing list at 31^st January 2023, broken down by household bedroom need and current time on the list.

Time on List	1-5 Years	5-10 Years	10-12 Years	12+ Years	Totals
1-bed	1,747	843	147	154	2,891
2-bed	1,013	723	98	56	1,890
3-bed	400	376	43	39	858
4-bed+	58	34	10	13	115
Totals	3,218	1,987	322	276	5,803

Members should be aware that Choice Based Letting (CBL) has been the Council’s primary method of housing allocation since October 2011.  CBL allows applicants to remain on the housing list until they secure an allocation in a property in an area that they are interested in.

In accordance with the Council's Allocations scheme, all allocations are made on time-on-list basis.  A numbered list was in operation prior to the move to time-on-list basis for allocations and the introduction of CBL but it provides no significant benefits to applicants and indeed does not readily align with the use of CBL or with applicants being awarded priority on medical, homeless, age or other grounds.  Engagement with local authorities using numbered lists also confirm that the ongoing updating of lists and the volume of associated queries is not a productive use of staff time.  However, we are examining the greater availability of data around successful CBL expressions of interest to provide housing list applicants with a more informed sense of their likelihood of making a successful expression of interest for a property in a particular area.