Written answers
Tuesday, 26 April 2022
Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
Housing Policy
Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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619. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will include an identifier for medical priority need and a separate identifier for wheelchair liveability need in the forthcoming annual housing needs assessment review undertaken by each local authority and subsequently published as the summary of housing need by the Housing Agency (details supplied). [19516/22]
Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department introduced a revised social housing application form in March 2021 in consultation with the local authority sector. The application form already provided for applicants to identify housing requirements arising from a disability or medical condition, but now also includes an identifier for persons requiring 'wheelchair livable' accommodation.
The Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA) includes breakdowns by local authority across multiple categories, including those whose main need for social housing support is due to a disability, medical or compassionate grounds. The SSHA also provides a breakdown of any specific accommodation requirements that households may have under four main headings; physical, intellectual, sensory and mental health.
There is currently no separate breakdown of wheelchair users in the SSHA who have specific accommodation requirements. That said, a SSHA project is currently underway in collaboration with the LGMA and the Housing Agency. The project is examining inter alia how the data captured aligns with changes made to the social housing application form, including in respect of 'wheelchair livable'. This work will be completed before the 2022 SSHA exercise commences.
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