Call for the Minister for Housing and all Councils to change their current rules for would-be and existing council tenants.

1: Allow citizens to put their name on a number of council house lists rather than only one.

2: Change the rules which prevent those currently in council housing from transferring into properties in different counties or to different councils. Even if their needs and circumstances in life dramatically change  they cannot transfer elsewhere.

There are over 16,000 people on a Facebook group to try to find other tenants to swap with, which indicates a definite need for a change in the rules regarding where would-be and existing tenants can apply to live or transfer to.

Why?

Making this simple change in the rules would allow people to take up work in different areas and help with unemployment. It would help ease some of the housing issues in Ireland by allowing city dwellers to move to more rural settings and vice versa - or to different parts of Dublin, or simply from any one county to another. It would allow people to take up job offers, to study, to be near family, transport, hospitals and support systems. It would help free up houses in areas in high demand and fill empty houses in low demand areas. It would take some people off waiting lists and out of emergency accommodation and allow them to take up housing in other parts of the country/county than where they originally applied in.

This campaign is not about entitled people on welfare looking for more even more hand-outs. Council tenants pay rent. The rent increases if their income goes up.

In some cases upstanding, but financially vulnerable people have to live their lives with anti-social behaviour simply because they are poor and under this current system cannot escape the perpetrators.

The Benefits

Changing the current rules could help ease the pressure on councils having to spend a fortune providing emergency homeless accommodation, including for those who must currently give up their homes in order to be able to move. It would also ease the pressure on building more new homes when there are many council properties across the country that people would happily live in, but instead are prevented by the rule that they must stay in the original county they applied in.

It makes obvious, logical sense to allow those who would like to move to another part of the country or city to be allowed to at least apply to do so and then wait, depending on housing availability.

It makes obvious, logical sense to have someone who might wait their entire life for a council house in Dublin to be also be able to put their name on a list in e.g. Wicklow and Kerry if they wish. If they are offered housing in one of the latter two and take it, it would take pressure off the provision of houses in the capital and take one more person or family's name off the waiting list.

The Current System

Under current rules, council house tenants can only apply to be on a waiting list for council housing in one county, or with one council only. They can apply to transfer to another dwelling within the same county or through the same council that they already are renting in (if they meet certain criteria - for instance an unemployed person having found a job elsewhere doesn’t allow a transfer).

The only way they can move to a different area or county is to privately find another council tenant who both mutually agree to swap homes. They can only swap houses if the circumstances are the same - an example is:  a person in a two bedroom dwelling cannot swap with someone in a four bedroom dwelling. The swap can only happen if they find someone willing to exchange houses and they can only swap if both councils also agree.

As it stands, if people cannot find someone privately to swap with, council house tenants who want to move to a different county or council area MUST give up their current home to do so, no matter how unsuitable, or far from opportunities, transport or support. If they do give up their house, it is considered they have made themselves voluntarily homeless. A council is then obliged to treat them as homeless and provide emergency accommodation and their name goes on the bottom of a new waiting list in another county/council. This despite having long-proved they meet all the criteria to qualify for a council house already and despite it making sense to at least offer those people alternatives in different parts of the country.

Money Saving

Providing emergency homeless accommodation costs a a lot of money and we’ve all read of council houses that have been built but not filled for various reasons (too far from schools, transport, family, hospitals etc.) Perhaps people outside that county/council area would move into those very houses if they were simply allowed to apply to do so. This would stop the waste of resources of having built housing that’s not taken up, and save money providing emergency accommodation in one area where there’s more chance of getting housing elsewhere.

Who Will Avail of This?

Obviously not everyone will want to avail of this option, but the option should be there nevertheless for all the reasons outlined above. Citizens with health issues, growing families, who need to be near public transport or their family for child-minding or for support due to mental health issues. In short, ordinary people like you or I.

This one simple change could save money and ease the burden on councils and tax payers (many of whom are in council houses themselves) to build new houses. This rule change would allow citizens the choice to initially put their name on a list in a number of areas, or once in housing to relocate to any area in Ireland as and when their life circumstances and needs change.

Some examples of why this is important and why it could help:

1: An unemployed council house tenant in one county, with bad transport infrastructure cannot find work and if he/she did, cannot get to the job as there isn’t proper public transport where they live. They are offered a job two counties away in a town where they could live and walk to work, but have no car to commute. So, they have to turn down the job as there is no bus or train where their current council property is.

This person needs a roof over their head while they take up work and will wait a month before they get their first pay packet. How are they to pay for a deposit and first month's rent until they get that pay packet? How will this person even find private accommodation with the crisis that's ongoing now? They won't and will therefore remain unemployed and trapped.

The simple act of allowing this person to request a transfer to the county where available jobs are would eventually get them off social welfare and back in employment, which would raise more taxes and pay for more housing. 

2: A sick person who needs regular hospital treatment needs to now live somewhere within access to the nearest hospital, but cannot put their name on another list to be near to a hospital without first making themselves homeless.

3: People who now want to move from urban to rural areas are disallowed. By being stuck in the city are taking up a house that others would be only to happy to have. Those in rural areas who’d have more opportunities for work are disallowed from applying to move to the city or bigger town.

4: A growing family doesn’t have enough rooms for all the children in one county but there are no houses with bigger rooms available. In the next county over there are more suitable houses available, but this family is prevented from moving to avail of them.

We are in the middle of a horrific housing crisis that shows no signs of being resolved any time soon. This would be a simple way to relieve a little of the pressure in the provision of housing and would help people better themselves and their families.