Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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176. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the confusion and hardship arising from the requirement of local authorities to request proof from an applicant for housing that they do not own property in a country they have previously resided in; the required proof of the applicant; the circular number setting out for council staff the way this requirement is to be applied; the provisions in place to ensure no person is left without access to housing in the event that they are unable to secure this proof on the basis of inability to pay. [4248/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The primary purpose of social housing support is to assist the provision of suitable accommodation for households who have a housing need but do not have sufficient resources to secure accommodation from their own resources. Section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous) Provisions Act 2009 and associated Regulations empower a housing authority to carry out a social housing assessment in order to determine whether a particular household qualifies for social housing support. Under these enactments, a household is ineligible for social housing support if a member owns alternative accommodation that could meet the household’s needs, either by occupying it or selling it to pay for other accommodation.

The Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 prescribe an application form for social housing application that requires the household to supply information on property ownership either in the State or abroad. Regulation 11 obliges a household to provide to a housing authority such additional information, including documents and other particulars, sought by the authority for the purpose of verifying information relating to an application for social housing support. I expect that any request by a housing authority for supporting documentation in relation to ownership of property abroad would be appropriate, having regard to the circumstances in each case.

I am aware that requests by local authorities for documents relating to ownership of property abroad can cause difficulties in particular cases and will consider this issue as part of the review of the social housing assessment system to be undertaken this year, in fulfilment of a commitment in the Social Housing Strategy 2020.