Social housing refusal rate in Kilkenny is ‘very alarming’

The refusal rate for social housing in Kilkenny is ‘very alarming’ according to local councillor Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere.

Cllr Cleere expressed his concern at this month’s meeting of Kilkenny County Council after he requested data about the refusal rate for social housing over the previous three years.

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That data was subsequently provided at the meeting by the Kilkenny County Council Housing Department.

The data revealed that across the county in 2022, 30 local authority housing offers were turned down out of a total of 179.

Including Approved Housing Body (AHB) offers, a total of 42 housing offers were turned down out of a total of 293.

Despite figures trending slightly downwards from previous years, Cllr Cleere noted that the rate of refusal ‘seems extraordinarily high in the middle of a housing crisis’.

The Housing Department deemed changes to the tenant purchase scheme and unreasonable applicant expectations as two of multiple reasons for the refusal rate.

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It was raised that many social housing applicants have a preference for traditional housing units rather than newly-built apartments.

These new housing developments are built in line with current housing and planning policy and they will continue to be built this way.

As such, it remains unlikely that the issue will resolve itself in the short-term.

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Cllr Cleere went on to acknowledge the work the local authority does 'behind the scenes’ to ‘bring the numbers down’.

“I’m constantly hearing stories of houses being refused and wanted to get the data to bring clarity to that and having that now is hugely beneficial going forward.”