Louth sees drop in number of households qualified for social housing support

The 2017 Summary of Social Housing Assessments which was published yesterday by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, shows a 13.5% drop on 2016 in the number of households in Louth qualified for social housing supports.

According to the report, 2,249 households in Louth qualified for social housing supports, a decrease of 351 on 2016.

The age profile of households in Louth qualified for housing supports is as follows:

• Less than 25 years – 141
• 25-29 years – 330
• 30-39 years – 772
• 40-49 years – 525
• 50-59 years – 282
• 60-69 years – 165
• 70 years or more – 34

The report details the main need for support for those households qualified for social housing. For Louth the numbers are as follows:

• Dependent on Rent Supplement  - 540
• Unsuitable accommodation – household circumstances – 1,086
• Require separate accommodation - 155
• Institution, emergency accommodation or hostel - 33
• Disability – physical - 99
• Disability – sensory - 8
• Disability – mental health - 40
• Disability - Other - 1
• Disability – intellectual - 196
• Exceptional medical needs or compassionate grounds - 29
• Overcrowded accommodation - 53
• Unfit accommodation - 6
• Unsustainable mortgage – 3

The length of time on the waiting list is also revealed in the report. It shows that in Louth, almost half the number(1,121 qualified households) are on the waiting list are there for five years or more. 644 are on the list for over 7 years and 477 are on the list 5-7 years.

Key findings of the preliminary assessment for the country as a whole are as follows:

• 25 of 31 local authorities saw the number of households waiting for social housing fall;
• Single person households make up almost 45% of all households on the list;
• Almost 42% of all households on the list live in Dublin;
• Being in need of rent supplement is the most commonly cited basis of need for social housing support (41%);
• The majority (57.5%) of those qualified for social housing support are unemployed;
• The median waiting time for a household on the list now stands at just over 4 years; and
• Almost 15% of households on the waiting list have specific accommodation requirements

Commenting on the report, Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government Damien English, had this to say:

“There is positive news in that the majority of local authorities have reported a fall in the number of qualified households.

"We must, however, not forget that there are still 85,799 households who have a need for housing support, so the momentum gained through actions contained in Rebuilding Ireland, must be maintained to ensure that the ‘net need’ recorded in the SSHA continues to decrease on an annual basis”.

Minister English concluded:

“Both Minister Murphy’s and my objective is to repair our broken housing sector.

"Significant progress has been made since Rebuilding Ireland was published in 2016, with for example, over 19,000 new social housing tenancy supports being provided in 2016, and over 25,000 delivered in 2017.

"These figures show that progress is being maintained and built upon year on year and that we are on track to meet the ambitious but necessary targets set down for the delivery of social housing supports over the coming four year period”.