Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. The allocation of local authority dwellings, including the prioritisation of certain households, is a matter for the local authority concerned, in accordance with their allocation schemes made under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated Regulations.    

A revised Social Housing Support Application Form was introduced with effect from 19 April 2021.  The new form includes an additional form which an applicant who wants to apply for assessment for priority support based on medical need or disability must complete (HMD-Form 1). The new form may be completed by a variety of healthcare professionals. This replaces the requirement under the older application to obtain a medical consultant’s letter, which many potential applicants found to be onerous where they were not being cared for by a consultant.  

The 2011 Assessment Regulations prescribes, within the Regulations, the housing support application form which must be completed. These Regulations also provide that the local authority may request additional information where it is necessary to assess the applicant’s eligibility for housing support as it is doing in requesting the HMD1 form.  The purpose of the HMD1 form is to obtain sufficient information to allow the local authority to assess the nature of the applicant’s condition in order to award a priority to the applicant if that is merited.