Social housing

Airyfairy12 · 24-03-2023 2:32pm #1

Hi im wondering how do you apply for social housing? I know there is an online form that you can print out but is there anywhere you can get a from form without printing it out yourself? Like do they have them in the social welfare office for example?

Also wondering if anyone knows what the process is like for working Irish, single, childless adults living with parents but earning well below the 35k? Is there any point in even applying? This demographic is likely to be bottom of the priority list. Ive heard of single mothers & families waiting 15 years for a permanent home.

Thanks.

...Ghost... · 24-03-2023 2:43pm

You could email the form to yourself and then have your local library print it out. or use a printer at an internet kiosk.

Single Irish males living with parents are the very lowest priority. Single Irish females are next on the list. Add children and overcrowding, then homelessness and then health issues couple with frequency of visits to the local welfare office to ask about housing and the number of TDs you get letters from and points start to be scored for priority. While this may not be the published criteria, it's what happens on the ground.

blackbox · 24-03-2023 2:54pm

There is a council estate nearing completion not far from where we live. Does this mean that there will be nobody living there except single parents with large families and possibly health issues?

Dslatt · 24-03-2023 2:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395927#Comment_120395927

Call it 60% I'd say

Allinall · 24-03-2023 2:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395927#Comment_120395927

No.

Airyfairy12 · 24-03-2023 2:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395865#Comment_120395865

I know its frustrating, if youre not interested in working & have multiple children you cant afford & spend all your waking hours giving out and complaining to TD's you get handed everything but put yourself through education, work hard & get paid buttons so you cant rent or buy and you get no help at all.

Theres no internet cafe in my town & the library is like stepping into a 1980's time warp, they still have old dell computers that take an hour to turn on and crash every time you click the mouse or press a button!

Padre_Pio · 24-03-2023 2:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395946#Comment_120395946

No, they try to prevent ghettos (awful word but I don't know a better alternative)

They will have a mix of people which promotes better social stability.

Airyfairy12 · 24-03-2023 2:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395927#Comment_120395927

Thought they wearnt building council estates anymore.

Airyfairy12 · 24-03-2023 3:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395956#Comment_120395956

Thank you, this is a very helpful reply.

Dslatt · 24-03-2023 3:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395967#Comment_120395967

why? Theres two built near me in the last year

Airyfairy12 · 24-03-2023 3:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395992#Comment_120395992

Ive heard they arent building estates purely for social housing because it creates stigmatised areas, Ive been told that social housing is being included in all housing estates to prevent this. That said, anyone I know who is in social housing are all living beside others in social housing so I dont know if this is being implemented. I dont know why they dont buy up country houses and derelict houses in villages, dont know why they put everyone on social housing in housing estates? The country is full of derelict & small homes, but im digressing now.

Gatling · 24-03-2023 3:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058289567/social-housing

There's more housing provider's now that provides housing not just for parents or lone parents,

As long as you have a long term Housing need your entitled to be on the list

callaway92 · 24-03-2023 3:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120396162#Comment_120396162

There's a house estate on the Limerick Rd. in Ennis that I can only assume is purely Social Housing as there was no notice of houses for sale ahead of them being built/moved into

rob316 · 24-03-2023 3:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120396200#Comment_120396200

They are generally mixed social and affordable housing now. Pure social housing is on a very small scale. Anything new gone up around me is like this.

OP you haven't a prayer of been housed,maybe 15 years wait if it all.

endofrainbow · 24-03-2023 4:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395865#Comment_120395865

I seriously wonder how getting a letter from a TD will help your case? It's not as though the TD will write to the relevant body and say 'hey Johnny needs a house' and they suddenly magic up a house and knocks someone else out of their place in the queue.

This is not how it works - and rightly so.

How Soon Is Now · 24-03-2023 4:55pm

Myself and my partner are on the housing list nine years now. She's been living in an overcrowded home with our two kids one of them is Autistic. She only recently started properly living with me because she's no where else to go and I have an eviction notice for May. I work full time civil service office job she cant work full time cause of our daughter. Basically my point is what more can we add to our application and we have never received any offers from the council. I've only recently got reply's from local counsellors who have contacted the council on our behalf so see if it makes any difference hopefully but I'm not getting my hopes up!

If your only joining the list at this stage you will have to be a very very special case to even be looked at or in my experience from what I've seen in work you basically have to be a total waste of oxygen and a burden to society to get housed. There's an awful lot of people like myself on the list who work pay there tax's but cant afford to pay crazy rent in this county but the government don't want to help us there's nothing for them to gain from it!

...Ghost... · 24-03-2023 5:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120396471#Comment_120396471

I wish you were right and that the system was a fair one (albeit a system I disagree with mostly). However, on the ground and in the real world, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

This is why folk with brass necks will hound their local TDs for letters and representation. It's why folk go to the local housing office frequently to get an update on the number they are on the list and what is going on in their chosen area. It's why folk get letters from their GP about their deteriorating mental health and need for housing. It's common knowledge that another baby in the pram boosts your housing need.

I know this to be true because I know plenty of people in social housing, including siblings, all of whom at the very least exaggerated their needs to get housed. I personally know of 2 separate families who were in council accommodation and the relationships ended. In both cases, the parent who left the family home took custody (on paper) of 1 or more children in order to secure a council house/apartment locally. Disgraceful stuff.

TooTired123 · 24-03-2023 5:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120395990#Comment_120395990

It’s possible that if your parents have a comfortably big enough house and there are no issues for them in you living there, that your LA will find you not “in need of housing”. Ring any CIC and they will print out and post you out an application relevant to your LA.

zell12 · 24-03-2023 8:48pm

There is no transparency in housing allocations, whatsoever. No accountability for decision-making in a Council Housing Dept. It is incredible in 2023, that this happens in a government agency.

If you have a housing need OP, apply for social housing

Airyfairy12 · 25-03-2023 4:14pm

Its just crazy how bad it is, ive a friend living in Holland, all she needed to secure a mortgage & get her own house was 7k savings, she has a mortgage now & her own home over there, her job pays her mortgage & she has a good quality of life. The powers that be here just want to break people, especially working poor. I think they give people on social welfare so much to keep people working for buttons putting the blame on them instead of the government. I just hate this country so much it took my youth with the recession & now its taking my adult years, preventing me from ever putting down roots or allowing me to progress in life no matter how hard I work for it. I never imagined being in my 30's & still living with my parents, working hard for what might aswell be pocket money & after 7 years of college education.

TooTired123 · 25-03-2023 5:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120399827#Comment_120399827

The only thing you can do is leave the country. Look. What’s the worst can happen. You don’t like it wherever it is you go to, you can just come back home again.

My daughter left 14 months ago aged 24. After the all the lockdown/masks/restrictions/testing/vaccines and working from home she realized that Ireland hadn’t anything to offer her so she just left.

It’s brilliant. She’s a new woman. She’ll never be back. Think about it even.

Airyfairy12 · 25-03-2023 8:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120400015#Comment_120400015

Ive been really considering it latley, just hate that the governments made it so bad for people thats it pretty much a 'well if you dont like it, leave' attitude that they have, instead of fixing any of the social problems in this country. I dont want to have to leave my friends, family & pets just to have some normal type of life like being able to be an autonomous adult. The thoughts of starting all over again in another country where I know nobody is a scary thought but literally backed into a corner, theres no other option other than to waste away in the box room of my parents house.

thinkabouit · 25-03-2023 8:54pm

fill out the local authority’s application form.

you’ll probably have plenty hoops to jump through because in my experience if the application isn’t 110% ready it’ll be an ordeal. Anything they can find to delay the application they will take full advantage.

It’s a waste of time though I figured, better working, saving & try find simmering cheap in rural areas. That’s my plan.

25-03-2023 9:09pm

You could also apply directly to housing associations like Tuath.

They consider single people for one bed apartments.

TooTired123 · 25-03-2023 9:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120400626#Comment_120400626

Yes my daughter misses us, her granny, her friends who live in Ireland and her little dog, but she’s made some fantastic new friends and is having great experiences that you won’t have if you stay at home. Don’t forget, you can come home if you don’t like it. Have a nice weekend.

...Ghost... · 25-03-2023 9:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120400626#Comment_120400626

Fill out the application, but know your chances are practically zero. Think of how many single men you know who live in social housing. I'm usually an optimist, but you are signing up with a major disadvantage. Male living with parents.

Airyfairy12 · 26-03-2023 1:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120400843#Comment_120400843

I dont know any single childless women living in social housing either, I think its just anyone whose single, childless & born in Ireland, regardless of gender.

Airyfairy12 · 26-03-2023 1:28am

Thanks everyone, I will look into Tuath & yes ill also be strongly considering moving abroad & looking at options in other countries. Thanks for all your help!