Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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It is open to any person over 18 years of age to apply for social housing support at any stage, subject to meeting the eligibility and need criteria at the point at which they apply.

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. Decisions on the qualification of specific persons for social housing support, the most appropriate form of any such support, and the allocation of that support are a matter solely for the local authority concerned.

Eligibility for social housing support include: income, existence of previous social housing rent arrears and availability of alternative accommodation. Alternative accommodation is defined in Regulation 3(1) as being, “in respect of a household applying for social housing support, accommodation owned by the household, other than the accommodation currently occupied by the household and, in cases where one or more than one household member is currently living apart from the household, includes the accommodation currently occupied by such member or members”. That is – accommodation the household owns whether it be vacant, let under a tenancy that could be terminated in accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 or it is occupied by a person other than a member of the applicant household (see Regulation 22(2)(b) of SI 84 of 2011).

An applicant must meet all of these requirements to be deemed in need of social housing support. Where a household is deemed to meet the eligibility criteria, only then is its housing need assessed under the criteria in Regulation 23 of the 2011 Regulations, having regard to its current accommodation. This criteria includes where its accommodation is shared with another household, whether the household that has applied for social housing support has a reasonable requirement for separate accommodation.