The number of social housing applicants refusing offers of accommodation in Kerry has more than halved since the introduction of choice-based letting.
Labour councillor Marie Moloney requested an update on the success of the choice-based letting system, at this month’s council meeting.
One in ten social housing applicants are still refusing offers under the new system, but this is a significant decrease.
Through choice-based letting, available social housing is openly advertised, allowing qualified households to apply if they are interested.
It’s aimed at giving qualified households a greater choice and involvement in selecting a new home.
The system went live in Kerry last November, and all general housing allocations by Kerry County Council are done through CBL.
Killarney Labour councillor Marie Moloney asked the council if the system has resulted in a reduction of the number of applicants refusing offers of tenancy.
Kerry County Council says since the introduction of CBL, there has been a decrease in the number of offers of accommodation being refused.
The number of refusals from January to July 2024 was 25 (this is 11% of the total offers), compared to 59 in the same period in 2023, which was 20% of all offers.
The council says a refusal of an offer under CBL results in the applicant not being able to make a further bid under the system for 12 months.
Cllr Moloney said she was gobsmacked that 25 offers were still refused in the first seven months of the year, which she called a huge amount.
She said it’s a huge volume of work for the housing investigation officers.
Independent councillor Jackie Healy-Rae said the number of refusals are still down, and this is the trend we wanted to see.
