Council Calls For Social Housing Income Threshold To Be Increased

A local councillor says the social housing income thresholds should be increased so we can house more workers.

Michael Sheehan brought a motion to the council this week calling for the limit of €36,750 to be increased to around €80,000.

This motion was amended so the council would call on Local Government Minister James Browne to raise the threshold to €44,000 instead.

Councillor Sheehan says workers feel like under the current rules, they're being punished for trying to contribute to economy.

"Somebody on the average industrial wage, which is approximately €1,000 a week, is still too rich to go for a council house which is a major change in this country.

"People who are striving to get ahead and working are now being left behind. 

"If you want to get social housing, the only way you're going to do it is by part time working, low wage or social welfare and that's the wrong mix for what we want to go with."

Councillor Sheehan also says raising the threshold won't negatively affect the people currently waiting for a house.

There was pushback at the recent council meeting with some Fianna Fail councillors saying the €80,000 figure, a jump of almost 130%, was far too high.

Councillor John Fleming said a rise of 20 per cent was far more realistic and Councillor Barbara Ann Murphy questioned what a raise in the threshold would mean for those already on the list.

There was concern that allowing more people to apply for the list would only clog up the system further with Councillor Murphy warning that it could many applicants false hope.

Councillor Sheehan rejected this notion and says the sheer number of people on the housing list isn't relevant, it's how quickly they're housed.

"The allocation of houses is based on how long they're on the list so it doesn't really matter how many people are on it.

"With Choice Based Letting and the fact that you have to be on there for a period of time, those are the real determinants about whether people get houses or not."

Councillor Joe Sullivan agrees with Councillor Sheehan and says something meaningful must be done to help hard working families to stay in the places where they grew up.

While he feels €80,000 might be a step too far an increase is needed to help out the squeezed middle.

"€60,000 I believe is a realistic figure in today's society for a family.

"These people have all their utilities to pay, food, school for their children, so I think bringing it up 20% is just facile.

"We're just fobbing people off and not dealing with the issue earnestly or seriously."

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.