KILDARE: There is concern over the number of people turning down offers of social housing

Concern has been expressed over the number of offers of social housing which are being turned down by those seeking to be accommodated.

Kildare town councillor Suzanne Doyle said there is a high number of refusals for what is generally new housing.

She said that while people are entitled to seek the best option for themselves, the number of refusals is putting pressure on staff allocating the homes - which are primarily apartments.

She said in many cases people have legitimate concerns such as a change in circumstances or the need to update personal information - but she expected that the number of refusals would be less than half the actual figure.

She added: “When offered a house they should be aware of all those who would love to be in their position.”

In 2020 a total of 249 refusals were received for 784 properties.

In 2021 there were 784 offers of accommodation of which 2210 were turned down.

Cllr Suzanne Doyle

Some 234 refusals materialised for 822 offers in 2022.

And between January and March this year there were 385 of which 92 were not taken up. A Kildare County Council meeting heard the  allocated properties include council and approved housing body owned and leased stock and there is no particular

geographic pattern to refusals.

In a report, KCC official Annette Aspell said that the  reasons cited for refusal are location, the type of units offered, restrictions on future purchase and a change in circumstances.

Housing applicants are allowed to select three areas of choice, however when offered a property they do not want they can seek to relocate to their area of choice.

The refusal rate on apartments is higher than traditional housing, mainly because of  the desire for a garden and pet ownership.

There is a higher rate of refusal of approved housing body units.

If a social housing applicant refuses two reasonable offers of accommodation within their stated area of choice within a 12-month period, they are suspended from offers for a period of 12 months. 

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It is noted that the housing assistance payment can continue for this period. The high rate of refusal is impacting on the vacancy rate for council and AHB owned properties and increases the resources required to allocate properties. 

Ms Aspell said in order to deal with refusals, the council is increasing the number of  properties being let through choice based letting, and an applicant who refuses a property on which they bid is suspended from further bids for a period of one year.

She added the  council would welcome a more prohibitive refusal policy being implemented.

The council is currently operating the tenant in situ scheme and “there is an emerging issue of tenants refusing to accept council tenancies in properties which they are residing in as private tenants.” 

Ms Aspell said the onus is on the applicants to update their information.

She also said that people should not indicate a location they are not prepared to live in and she added the delays caused are also part of the reason why council properties remain vacant.