Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD, Seán Crowe, has urged Local Authority housing applicants in the South Dublin County Council area to respond to the Housing Needs Assessment form or face losing their place on the housing list.

Crowe believes that this particular year there is a new dimension and added difficulty for some of the people on the housing waiting lists who are not computer literate as they now have to fill out the Council form online.

South Dublin County Council intends to write to each housing applicant on its Social Housing List prior to 21st September 2016 using the current address they have on file for each applicant. The onus is on the applicant to inform the Council if they have changed their address and every year huge numbers are removed for not responding to assessment letter with many claiming they never got the letter.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“South Dublin County Council is once again commencing its annual Housing Needs Assessment.

“Once again the Council propose to write to each housing applicant on its Social Housing List prior to 21 September 2016 and will use the current address they have on file for each applicant.

“Every year huge numbers of people lose their place on the housing list by not notifying the Council of their change of address. If someone has subsequently moved address the onus is on the applicant to inform them of any changes.

“The very real danger is they may not get the letter about this yearly assessment and subsequently lose their place in the queue or get removed altogether from the housing application list. This in my experience happens to applicants every single year.

“I would advise anyone who has moved address to notify the Council as they could have their application for social housing terminated.

“This could also have implications for applicants receiving a rental support, as it may be cut. An applicant has to be on a local authority housing list to continue to receive a rental support.

“This year each applicant will be asked to complete an online form and provide documentary evidence of any changes in their circumstances and return this information to South Dublin County Council.

“I would urge people to simply do just that.

“Anyone who fails to return the housing needs assessment within the specified time allocated, may see their application for social housing support terminated.

“There is clearly a need for an up to date live register for South Dublin County Council to assess its housing needs but  I would be extremely concerned that this does not change and turn into a cull of the housing list.

“People need to be given sufficient time to return their forms and extra support needs to be given to applicants who are not computer literate.

“Finally, I would advise everyone who is currently on the housing waiting list, whether they have changed address or not, to contact the Council and clarify that their information is correct prior to the roll out of this process.”

ENDS