Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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215. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the progress made on implementing a choice based social housing allocation system across all 31 local authorities as set out as a key objective of Rebuilding Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9120/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing & Homelessness contains a commitment to extend the use of choice- based letting (CBL) by local authorities as a method of allocating social housing support. This is in recognition of the benefits that a CBL system can deliver to social housing applicants, existing social housing tenants and to local authorities. On 30th September 2016, I made the Social Housing Allocation (Amendment) Regulations 2016 which required that all local authorities must, if they have not already done so, provide for CBL as a method of allocation in their housing allocation schemes by 31 December 2016.

I understand that a majority of local authorities have now used CBL as a way of allocating some of their social housing properties. Where it has been introduced, the feedback has been very positive both from the authorities themselves and the customers they serve.

To facilitate the wider operation of CBL my Department issued updated guidance to authorities in December 2016. The Department will continue to liaise with housing authorities with a view to ensuring that CBL is implemented as widely as possible across the country.