Each year, The Housing Agency carries out an assessment of households qualified for social housing support. The Summary of Social Housing Assessments brings together information provided by local authorities on households that are qualified for social housing support but whose social housing need is not currently being met. It is a point-in-time assessment of the identified need for social housing support across the country.
This year's count was carried out on 24 June 2019. Published today, the report provides a breakdown of the data by set criteria – local authority, age, household composition, current tenure, basis of need, accommodation requirements, length of time on the list, etc.
Key findings from the 2019 Summary of Social Housing Assessments include:
- 68,693 households were assessed as qualified for housing support as of 24 June 2019.
- The number of households on the waiting list decreased by 22,907 households (25%) compared to the assessment conducted in September 2016.
- The number of households on the waiting list decreased by 3,165 (4.4%) compared to the previous assessment in June 2018.
- The four Dublin Authorities (Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin) account for 43.2% of the national total.
- One-adult households are the predominant household grouping in need of social housing support.
- About 53% of households qualified for social housing support are currently in the private rented sector.
- The number of households whose basis of need was listed as ’homeless, institution, emergency accommodation or hostel’ rose by 10.8% (614 households) since the 2018 assessment.
