Tiny number of people turn down council houses in Laois

Just three applicants seeking homes from Laois County Council turned down offers of social houses in the first quarter of this year and one of those found their own place to live.

While the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has claimed that “lots” of homeless people are refusing social housing “multiple” times, it appears that the vast majority of people in Laois don't hesitate when they are offered.

Between January and March, three social housing applicants said the houses offered to them by the State for a variety of reasons. One person’s reason was that they disapproved of the location of the house within the estate. 

Another reason for refusal was that the house was unsuitable for the person’s needs. The third applicant refused due to having already secured alternative accommodation by the time their application was processed and accepted.

Majority of 1,033 Ukrainians in Laois in privately sourced or pledged properties

A total of 26 offers of accommodation were accepted during the first three months of 2023.

This information was obtained from Laois County Council and the request for information was made with the specific ask of a timeframe between January 1 to March 31 timeframe.

The latest Chief Executive management report delivered to Laois County Councillors covers a period to the end of June. It says that the council has allocated a total of 186 homes in the first half of the year. 

Of these 40 went into newly built or newly acquired homes. A further 39 applicants were housed in relets or refurbished housing stock. Approved housing bodied accommodated the remainder.

The report that there are 1,743 applicants on the housing waiting list around Laois. Nearly half of these are in private rented accommodation on HAP support. There were 23 homeless presentations in the first half of the year.

To date in 2023, a total of 86 notices to quit have been notified to County Hall of which 70 were valid. The council has acquired 12 of these homes with a further eight in progress and 14 under consideration.

Mr John Mulholland's report said 88 social homes have been delivered in Laois in 2023. A further 324 are under construction with a further 322 being planned around the county. 

Work has been completed on reletting 48 council homes.