More than 1,300 households on the housing waiting list risk being struck off under a new social housing needs assessment currently being carried out, Independent city councillor Mike Cubbard has warned.
The Galway City Council has been carrying out a social housing needs assessment of all those on the current housing waiting list. The assessment is to ascertain if the estimated 4,700 households still require social housing. Households who have been on the list for more than 12 months, were contacted by City Hall’s Housing Department by letter earlier this year, with 3,482 letters sent out. Any new applicants - those on the list for under a year - are exempt from the process.
According to Independent city councillor Mike Cubbard, with the Department of Environment having giving City Hall a deadline of today to complete this process, “we are due to fall well short of completion at no fault of staff in the council”. Furthermore, as of this week, 1,328 applicants have not replied to the letters.
Cllr Cubbard said failure to reply puts the applicant at very high risk of being taken off the social housing waiting list. However it is understood the Galway City Council will seek an extension until October 27 from the Department, and the Galway City Central councillor is urging people to get in touch with City Hall.
“I am urging anybody who received a letter and has not yet contacted Galway City Council to do so as a matter of urgency,” said Cllr Cubbard. “Once they are removed from the list they will be treated as a new applicant thereafter if they make contact, thus having no guarantee that years already served waiting for a home are returned.”
