Cllrs say Tipp is being too bureaucratic during Housing Crisis

The housing department in Tipperary County Council came under criticism from local councillors for being too complicated and bureaucratic, during the recent monthly meeting of Nenagh Municipal District.

The councillors pointed out that they are at the coalface, often dealing with stressful situations where people are in very difficult circumstances, and they need a simpler housing application process for these people in trying situations.

Via zoom link three members of the housing department outlined for the councillors a Choice Based Letting System in the housing application process. They outlined a system which is basically a way of parsing through the various types of applicants who are seeking accommodation. However, it involved a number of tables, difficult terminology and generally seemed a bit impenetrable to the normal person's understanding.

One of the housing officials was interrupted by Cllr Seamus Morris as she went through the process. “I am sorry for interrupting you,” said the councillor, “and perhaps I am stupid, but I can't explain this process to my constituents. If someone says to me I can't get a house, I need a house, and they ask for my assistance I wouldn't be able to explain it to them. It's too complicated.”

Cllr Joe Hannigan agreed. “I think we all got lost from early on in your explanation,” he told the housing officer. “It is difficult to follow.”

The housing officer said the parsing system is using five different scenarios, i.e. five different types of housing applicant. “It is difficult to grasp it,” she admitted. “When I was typing it up I myself got a bit confused for a while with it.”

The councillors asked her to start again and explain it in layman's terms. The housing officer started to do so but was soon interrupted again by the councillors. The housing officer said it would be better to have the meeting in person rather than by zoom.

“That would be a better idea,” said Cllr Morris.

One of the housing officers said the Choice Based Letting System is working reasonably well. “We provide as much assistance as we possibly can for those applicants going through the process,” she said. “37% of the housing applicants haven't yet engaged with the system. We have written to every one of them three times in an effort to try and get them to engage with the system. Choice Based Letting is working well for those who engage with it.”

Cllr John Carroll pointed out that they have to think about the vulnerable. “There are people who are homeless, who are living on the streets, sleeping in haysheds and garden sheds, who are not contactable; they have drifted away from mainstream society. We have to think of them. We cannot leave them behind. I have come across two homeless people recently who left their family homes. Their circumstances are very difficult.”

Cllr Phyll Bugler agreed. “When it comes to vulnerable people like this, it is vitally important that they are allocated housing in their own areas, where their families are nearby. They are often not lost causes. It is often amazing how they can turn their lives around.”

Cllr Ger Darcy said the system needs to be more humanitarian. “We need to prioritise the vulnerable applicants. We used to do this in the Council, but no longer, sadly. We called them Priority Lists.

“Some of these housing applicants are in a very bad way. You couldn't emphasise enough the importance of them being housed in their home areas, in their own communities, near family and friends.

“We should simplify the system as much as we can, remove as much of the bureaucracy as we can; so we can look after first and foremost those most in need.

“You know it's terrible seeing all these vacant houses around the place during a housing crisis. Some of them are in pretty good nick, and sometimes it seems to take an eternity to bring them back into the system.”

Cllr Michael O'Meara agreed. “The Choice Based Letting System seems like a complex matrix,” he remarked. He appealed to the Housing Section and the powers that be to take on board the councillors' suggestions. “After all, we are at the coalface. We have the knowledge. However, at times I think our role is being eroded by the system. In recent years it seems as if our influence has been more and more eroded. But we should be listened to because we can help find realistic and pragmatic solutions to the problems. We need to have a stronger role here in tackling the housing crisis. I get the feeling that the government in Dublin, the Civil Service, don't value councillors enough and have been actively working over several years to diminish our role.

“One thing that irritates is that it can take months and years to renovate our houses. We need to speed things up.”

Cllr Bugler said the Choice Based Letting System is “too busy, too complicated. It needs to be refined, simplified."

A Housing Officer pointed out that the Priority List was abolished by central government in 2011. She said housing applicants got houses more quickly when the Priority List was in existence.

She said there are 3,520 applicants on the county's social housing list. She added that none of the social houses are being used to house the Ukrainian refugees. “Accommodation is being found for the refugees through a totally different process.”

The meeting agreed to hold an in-person meeting between the councillors and the housing section in the near future.