A workshop has been called on the housing process of Donegal County Council after claims that some applicants were unknowingly taken off the waiting list.
The Letterkenny-Milford MD has heard that several applicants who were granted Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) thought they were still on the waiting list for a social house.
“We need to clear this up and be upfront with people,” said Cllr Michael McBride, as he called for a workshop on housing allocations.
Cllr McBride pointed out one case where a woman thought she was on the housing list for 18 years. She is in a house through the HAP scheme but recently found out that she is not considered to have a housing need any longer.
“Another woman on the list for eight years found out the exact same thing,” Cllr McBride told last week’s Letterkenny-Milford MD meeting.
“I think that’s completely wrong. People on a housing list don’t have the means to buy a house and when they get HAP they look at that as a temporary measure while they wait for a house.
“I get the feeling that there is a massive amount of people that think they are on the housing list and they are not on it at all.
“I think it’s a very unfair situation to leave people hanging,” he added.
Cllr Pauric McGarvey echoed the concerns and said that a family in his area has been receiving HAP support for 15 years and did not know that they were no longer on the list.
The Letterkenny Municipal District currently has 1,201 approved applicants on the social housing waiting list. There are 651 applicants accommodated with HAP assistance but have opted to remain on the council’s social housing list.
Housing Area Manager Seamus Canning told the meeting that, generally, when somebody is approved for HAP, they are asked to indicate if they want to stay on the housing list. “Obviously, there are exceptions,” Mr Canning said.
He added that people on the housing list are usually contacted by the council within a year or two. “If they haven’t, we encourage them to get in touch with us.”
A workshop is now set to be arranged to consider the housing process.
