COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 14, 2026

QUESTION NO. 37

QUESTION: Councillor J. Spear

To ask the Chief Executive what responsibilities the Council has to ensure tenants in developments managed by Approved Housing Bodies, the Land Development Agency or Owner Management Companies have a fair and transparent opportunity to apply for available car parking spaces, and what arrangements are in place to achieve this.

REPLY:

Our role in relation to car parking for council tenants in multi-unit developments is determined by the ownership, management and legal structure of each individual development. In many apartment and mixed-tenure schemes, car parking spaces are not controlled directly by the council but are managed under the terms of the management company rules, or procedures operated by an Approved Housing Body (AHB), the Land Development Agency (LDA), or an Owner Management Company (OMC).

Where the council is the property owner within a multi-unit development, it will seek to ensure that tenants are provided with clear information on the arrangements that apply within that scheme, including how any available parking space may be applied for, the criteria used to allocate spaces, any applicable charges, and any restrictions that form part of the management rules for the development.

In developments owned and managed by an AHB, they are the property owner and the residents are tenants of that AHB, not tenants of the council. In those cases, the AHB is responsible for advising its tenants of the parking arrangements that apply and for engaging with any relevant management company or other managing body in relation to access to car parking.

Where the council leases properties from the LDA or other property owners, the residents of those properties are council tenants. However, the parking arrangements and management rules that apply within the wider development continue to apply to those properties.

We liaise, as appropriate, with AHBs, the LDA and OMCs to clarify the parking arrangements that apply in individual developments and to ensure that social housing tenants are not excluded from any application process where they are eligible to apply. However, we cannot guarantee the availability of a parking space in every development, as the number of spaces is often limited and may be subject to accessibility requirements, visitor parking provisions, or wider estate management considerations.

When a property is advertised on Choice Based Letting (CBL), we always state whether car parking is available as part of the property advert. Tenants who have a specific query about car parking in a property they are considering expressing an interest in should contact our Housing Allocations section in the first instance to clarify the arrangements that apply to that development.