Location main reason for council house refusals in Laois

A TOTAL of seven people refused social housing offers in Laois over a three month period.

From May 1 to August 31, seven successful social housing applications were denied for a variety of reasons.

Three of those seven were in May, with reasons being “applicant no longer interested in area of choice” and “refusal due to location of house in estate”.

Another three were refused in June, with two being unspecified reasons and one applicant refusing due to the accommodation being “unsuitable for their needs”.

The last noted refusal was in the first week of July and the reason cited was again for the location of the property within the housing estate.

This information was granted via a Freedom of Information request and no personal or identifiable details of applicants in question were disclosed.

Figure provided earlier in 2023 by the local authority showed that between January and March, three social housing applicants said the houses offered to them by the State were not suitable.

Figures provided previously by Laois County Council showed that 63 out of the 383 offers of social housing were turned down for a variety of reasons in 2022. 

There are 1,584 names on the Laois social housing waiting list. Half of them receive Housing Assistance Payments towards the cost of private rent while they wait for a social home.

There were 195 new social homes built in Laois this year, by the council, approved housing bodies, as turnkey purchases and Part 5 homes in private estates.

The figure was given at the November meeting of Laois County Council by the CEO John Mulholland.

"We expect to hit over 200 by the close of the year," he said.