Bill aims to clarify social-housing eligibility
The Government is to introduce a bill that it says will bring greater clarity on eligibility for social housing.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage says that the measure puts residency requirements that already exist on a firm statutory footing, adding that it will have little effect on the number of people accessing social housing.
The Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 makes amendments to the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 by adding lawful residency and habitual residency to eligibility criteria for social-housing support.
Consistency
The department says that the bill will clearly set out the lawful residency criteria for each citizenship type – Irish, British, EU/EEA, non-EU/EEA (granted subsidiary protection, refugee, permission to remain, programme refugee), and other non-EU/EEA nationals.
“Underpinning the policy on a statutory footing brings clarity to the eligibility of social-housing supports for all applicants and will ensure consistency with immigration policy,” said Minister James Browne.
“The new habitual residency requirement will ensure all social-housing applicants have a close link to the State and have made Ireland their home,” he added.
The existing policy and procedures define social housing as a long-term housing support. Successful applicants must demonstrate a long-term right to reside in the State and have a long-term intention to remain in Ireland as their home.
Appeals mechanism
Classes of people who are not entitled to social-housing support include:
- Those who have applied for international protection but have yet to receive a decision,
- A person who has a deportation or a return order against them where the notification is in force,
- Those with immigration permissions that do not permit them accessing certain social and public services, and
- Those on certain temporary permissions, such as temporary protection.
The bill also puts in place a new statutory appeals mechanism for local-authority decisions on social-housing eligibility and assessment.
Under the proposals, each local authority will appoint an appeals officer to decide on cases, independent in the performance of his or her regular functions.
They must decide the appeal within 28 days of receipt of the appeal.