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The Minister for Housing, Planning & Local Government Mr Eoghan Murphy TD, has today (24 July 2018), announced the provisional results of the 2018 Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA).

The results show that 71,858 households were assessed as being qualified for and in need of social housing support as of  June 2018.  This is a much reduced number of households and represents a decrease of almost 14,000 or just over 16% on the last assessment carried out in June 2017, when there were 85,799 households assessed as being qualified for and in need of a social housing support.  It also represents a total decrease of more than 21% since September 2016 and the publication of Rebuilding Ireland.  The Minister expects to publish the detailed results of the SSHA 2018 in September this year.

The Minister welcomed the results noting that almost every one of the country’s local authorities reported a decrease in their annual waiting lists.

Commenting on the figures Minister Murphy said

What we have here is evidence that the suite of social housing support initiatives put in place under Rebuilding Ireland is working.  Approximately 100 social housing support solutions were delivered every working day in 2017 and the numbers we see today are evidence of the real and positive impact this delivery is having on the people who need our help the most.

The 2018 SSHA figures build on the momentum gained in 2017 when the list fell by more than 6%.  Minister Murphy welcomed the accelerated rate of decrease but acknowledged that,

Whilst this is positive news we must not, and will not, lose sight of the fact that there are still more than 70,000 households who are relying on us for the provision of housing support.  The additional capital funding secured in Budget 2018 means that over the lifetime of Rebuilding Ireland more than €6 billion is committed for investment by this Government to support the delivery of 50,000 long-term social housing homes.  In addition, 87,500 flexible housing solutions will be provided through the Housing Assistant Payment (HAP) and Rental Accommodation Schemes. This level  of  investment and commitment to delivery will ensure we are in a position to meet the ambitious, but clearly necessary, social housing targets over the next few years. Furthermore, commitments under Project Ireland 2040 will see a further increase in social housing homes until 2027.

Minister Murphy concluded that,

The annual SSHA process is now playing a vital role in helping local authorities to properly target the delivery through build, acquisition, leasing, HAP and RAS in their area of social housing supports. When combined with the significant Exchequer funding it ensures that the housing needs of our citizens can and will be met in an appropriate and timely way.

Notes to Editors

1. NB: The key figure reported in the SSHA is referred to as ‘Net Need’ - that is the total number of households qualified for social housing support but whose need is not currently being met. This total excludes households that are:
2. Duplicate applications – where a household has applied to more than one area for social housing, only their oldest application is included in the count.
3. Already in receipt of social housing support, e.g. households currently living in local authority rented accommodation, voluntary/co-operative accommodation, accommodation provided under the HAP scheme, accommodation provided under the RAS, or accommodation provided under the SHCEP schemes.
4. On a transfer list - any household that has applied for a transfer from an existing form of social housing support.

Other figures that have appeared in various media reports over the past year did not exclude these categories of households from their count. Thus, they would have significantly over-estimated the amount of housing need in the country at this time.

2. Detailed results of previous Summary of Social Housing Assessments are available on the Department’s website.