John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

9. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if statistics, by county, are available from local authorities on the number of refusals of first and second offers of social housing by applicants on the housing list, in tabular form; the impact such refusals have on local authority housing services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35835/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Data returned to my Department from local authorities indicates that there were 934 refusals of offers of social housing in 2024, of which 693 were first refusals and 241 were second refusals. I will provide the Deputy with a breakdown of the data by local authority. There is some inconsistency in how this data is recorded at local authority level. My Department has been working closely with local authorities over the last number of months to improve data collection in this area, generally. Overall, the data returned by local authorities indicates that the levels of refusals of offers relative to the overall number of new social housing delivery and allocations to social housing, appears low.

From a local authority perspective, the refusal of offers can have an impact on administrative processes and ultimately, can prolong the period for tenanting properties. This can mean that properties can remain vacant which is not satisfactory. However, we must recognise that a decision to accept an offer of social housing home is an important life changing decision for the household and can require careful consideration.

Choice Based Letting allows applicants to respond to adverts and bid for homes that they would like to live in, rather than waiting for an authority to offer them a dwelling. There is evidence that local authorities that fully implement CBL experience a decreasing number of refusals, including in relation to properties which may otherwise be traditionally difficult to let properties.

My Department continues to work with local authorities to support the full roll-out of the Choice Based Letting model across every local authority.

Data returned by local authorities for 2024 first and second refusals