Dublin council encouraging families with vulnerable members to register on housing list ‘to avoid future homelessness’
Councillors worry that many families with vulnerable members are at risk of crisis placement (going into emergency accommodation) in the absence of appropriate housing options.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s (DLR) is calling for “its most vulnerable tenants” to register with them to ensure that family members with complex intellectual disabilities will find support if their primary carer becomes ill or dies.
“We recognise that we need more housing options to suit people based on their very complex needs,” said Senior Executive Officer for Housing for DLR, Aoife Flynn Kennedy, at a meeting this month.
“The cohort of individuals we are talking about need the highest level of support but still have the right to live the life of their choosing – they are the individuals who are not getting traction in terms of our housing list at the moment.”
The council is now working with the HSE to identify and map households where family members are providing lifelong care to relatives.
The initiative was introduced to support effective transitions to new homes for people with disabilities and to avoid crisis placements into unsafe situations, child protection services, and to avoid homelessness.
“We are now mapping households that will need support in the future. There are at least hundreds of families that are not on the housing list at all,” said Ms Kennedy.
“One of the challenges we face is a disconnect between housing allocation and allocating housing support. We need larger universal designed homes that will cater for four individuals to live together with the adequate social support.”
Currently, 431 people registered on the council’s waiting list have declared that they have a disability – a majority of these are people with intellectual disabilities who are in need of support to live independently.
In 2024, 189 houses were allocated to people with disabilities in the county (26pc) of all allocations. Last year, allocations fell to 112 (18pc) for the same.
DLR has agreed on 11 long-term leases to provide accommodation and support services for people with disabilities who are currently on their housing list.
Lauren Tuite, Green Party councillor for Killiney-Shankill, said it was important to bring more families into the waiting list who will need support in the future.
“We don’t know how many people will need these supports in five to 10 years. The hardest thing for families who have a child with disabilities is to know that you are going to be too old, too unwell or you’ll die – so who will be there to look after your child?” she said.
“Registering with the council is crucial so that services can be planned in advance and people can remain connected to their communities.”
Ms Kennedy said the number of people who were not on the council’s waiting list was “significant… over a 100 at least”. .
“It’s up to the individual and their families to make that housing application – but we do believe it’s quite a significant issue, not just in this area but throughout the country,” she added.