Single & applying for council accommodation

Charisma

One of my children is 28 and has tried to apply for housing with S. Dublin county council as he has a 1 yr old daughter who he has at weekends. He applied to the council for accomodation as my home is not suitable for the baby now that she is moving about ( I have 2 restricted breed dogs) and very little room. It is a privatley owned house with mortgage from a bank.
He was told that because he lives in the family home he is not entitled to housing. Is this correct. Also is it correct that he can not go for the affordable housing scheme if he is not on the councils houing list even though they wont let him on the list.

johnnyskeleton

While I don't know the full ins and outs of it, social housing is for people who have a need for housing. Therefore, if he has somewhere else that he can live he will not get social housing as he doesn't need it.

Does he work? If so, he could probably get somewhere to rent in private rental accomodation.

Charisma

How can this be right. If I was a council tennant or renting my home privatley he would be allowed on a housing list but he is being penalised because Im buying my house. Its a small house and not suitable for a baby. He has no means of buying his own place and is at the moment unemployed.

MysticalSoul

Even if he were entitled to it, the waiting list is about 2 years I believe, as there is a great shortage.

Council housing is for people who do not have a home to reside in.

johnnyskeleton

Charisma wrote: »

How can this be right. If I was a council tennant or renting my home privatley he would be allowed on a housing list but he is being penalised because Im buying my house. Its a small house and not suitable for a baby. He has no means of buying his own place and is at the moment unemployed.

Try not to think of it in terms of him being penalised - council housing is a benefit not an entitlement, and as such the benefits go to those in greatest need as priority.

Think about it another way, there are many people of your son's age who work and who live with their parents because it is too expensive to rent or buy a place in this city, and I'm sure they would consider themselves penalised if they had to live with their parents or share a room with somebody while your son gets a place because he is unemployed.

The best thing you could do for your son is to tell him to get a job - any job - and try to find a place to rent.

seahorse

Well somethings got to give Charisma because it's madness to have a toddler at crawling stage in the company of two restricted breed dogs; I'm surprised the child's mother allows her to spend weekends there to be honest.

Also it's not true that if you were renting from the council your son would be automatically accepted onto a council housing list. The councils criteria there is based simply around space and whether or not a person has enough space where they currently reside, it has nothing to do with the type of housing i.e. private, council etc Seemingly the council has a different opinion about what constitutes enough space.

I don't think this would have been the case years ago (I know someone who was given a three bed as a single man with kids visiting weekends quite a while ago) so perhaps things are changing with the downturn in the economy, but whatever the reason you've got two options here: You could advise your son to enlist the services of a local politician and try to get the council to accept him on their list, or you could take Johnnyskeletons advice and tell him to find work and then a place to rent.

The latter advice would get your son a roof a whole lot quicker than the first, for sure. Anyone who thinks Dublin council waiting lists are two years long has obviously never waited on one nor known anyone who has. Council waiting lists in Dublin can be anything between seven to twelve years and it is the smaller units (1&2 beds) which are on the upper end of that scale, so your son is really not missing out on much in all reality. He'd be far better off finding work and a private rented studio or apartment than suffering that long and depressing wait, and anyway, the little one would most likely be getting ready for secondary school before the council got round to housing her dad, so it's just not worth the wait.

SkepticOne

seahorse wrote: »

Well somethings got to give Charisma because it's madness to have a toddler at crawling stage in the company of two restricted breed dogs; I'm surprised the child's mother allows her to spend weekends there to be honest.

I agree with this, but I can see why the council might take the line they do. The dog's are there by the owners choice not out of necessity. If the owner can't afford to keep these types of dogs without putting in danger children living in the house then she shouldn't have those dogs in the first place.

seahorse

SkepticOne wrote: »

I agree with this, but I can see why the council might take the line they do. The dog's are there by the owners choice not out of necessity. If the owner can't afford to keep these types of dogs without putting in danger children living in the house then she shouldn't have those dogs in the first place.

I got the impression the man in question was turned down over issues of space. The OP hasn't said anything about having mentioned the dogs to the council (unless I've missed it.)

OP, is it a two bed house you're sharing with your son at the moment?

The_Conductor

In short- as the person is living in the family home- irrespective of the relative suitability of the accommodation, it does rule them out from the housing list. It does not however rule them out from the Affordable Housing scheme or other Shared Ownership Scheme (though to be perfectly honest- its possible to property for cheaper on the open market at present than its available under these two schemes).

If the person were to vacate the family home and move into rented accommodation- they would qualify for council housing- however as a single person with minority caring rights over a minor- they would not be seen as a priority case.

Its not ideal- but the job of the council is to provide care and assistance for those most in need of it- its not an automatic right by any means.

FYI- if it came to the attention of the courts that your son was bringing a young child into a home where there are multiple dogs of restricted breeds- its highly likely he would loose all visitation rights, at the discretion of the mother.

Charisma

For starters, if he was working he wouldnt be in this situation and needing housing. He was renting up to 4 months ago and looking into buying a place on affordable housing. Hes a qualified and experienced metal fabricator by trade and hasnt worked in his trade for the past 3 years as all the whole trade has been taken over by semi skilled non nationals who work for buttons and there is very little work for skilled fabricators. He was working in a related area up to 4 months ago when he was made redundant. His landlord refused to sign rent allowance forms (think hes not registered) so he had to move home. The dogs are mine and are the most gentle ,obedient and well behaved dogs you could meet.They are two beautifull Rotties and they would be very hard to rehome due to peoples ignorance of the breed. My dogs would be killed straight away if I was to surrender them and I would be heartbroken. I have always had dogs and my children were reared with care and attention to both them and the dogs. I would never ve a child crawling on the floor or anywhere near my dogs. No animal can be trusted 100% around children and I have always kept children and dogs seperated. The only only dog that was aggressive to my children was a yorkie I took in for a friend who was on holiday. As regards the child not being allowed in the home because of the dogs- its not an issue. The babys mum loves my dogs and is fine with the baby being here. She knows Im a responsible owner and also knows the dogs well and is aware that every precation is taken when anyone comes in to my home- for the dogs sake as much as the visitors as we are aware of peoples opinions and dont want to make them or my dogs uncomfortable. The dogs are always locked out of the house (because they are dogs, not because they are Rotties) when any child visits and when the baby is here, except at night and the baby is kept upstairs seperated by two stairgates and a door, which is fine for now but not ideal. I just thought Id clarify all that as I get the impression that it came across as my son is an unemployed dole sponger looking for a free house which is not the case at all. He will work at anything if he can get anything to work at. Also I take offence at the person who thinks I should get rid of my dogs. Not every body is as predjuiced thank God.

johnnyskeleton

Charisma wrote: »

I get the impression that it came across as my son is an unemployed dole sponger looking for a free house which is not the case at all. He will work at anything if he can get anything to work at. Also I take offence at the person who thinks I should get rid of my dogs. Not every body is as predjuiced thank God.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that he is a dole sponger - far from it, the advice is that he should try to get back to work rather than go down the route of social housing (which could ultimately lead to him getting stuck in the benefits trap). However, the reality is that he is unemployed and has a place to live. That place might not be as spacious as you would like, but there are people in much worse positions.

Many people are living in tiny 1/2 bed council flats, sometimes with whole families of 6/7 people. Giving somewhere more spacious than a privately mortgage house to someone who has a child only at the weekends would seem unfair to these people living in absolutely horrific conditions.

So the reality what the council and SMC have said to you are correct - he won't get social housing. He can apply for affordable housing, but without a job that's a non-runner. His best bet is to focus on retraining.