IRELAND - Council Housing question. Any help appreciated.

[Jadehiggs]

Long story short, my partner and I applied for social housing 5 weeks ago. We've since been kicked out of his family home and are residing with my parents in a tiny box room on a mattress. My parents have told me NOT to tell the housing authority that we have since been made homeless (technically) and are living in a different county at the moment because they are convinced they will cancel our application or force us to move into emergency accommodation (not suitable for me). I don't know if this is true. My partner has to drive an hour to work now and his car (old) is suffering and we are suffering mentally and physically as well. I have applied under mental health issues (I have aspergers and anxiety and tourettes syndrome) and of course, the issues that were budding with his family previously. I really don't know what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I don't know where to go from here.

If you are talking about Ireland itself and not alluding to anywhere in NI where it works differently then it will not make any difference whether you are living in a hotel or living on the streets, council housing list takes years here. I mean YEARS. One of my friends was on the list and got a call after 20 years to say they had a house for her. Loads of people complain all over facebook that there are not enough houses social or private to go around as we do have a massive housing crisis here and then we have hotels etc packed with people here under international protection. Honestly I do not know how you will get a house if you have not been on the list for a very very long time. Are you not in a position to rent privately? Granted it is expensive but it is better than being totally homeless.

I'm not in Ireland but temporary accommodation might not be so bad?

And you will get a place faster if you've been declared homeless, surely?

xx

It'll make no difference if it's Ireland you're talking about. You could be on the list for 10 - 20 years. Declaring yourself homeless won't do much either, you might get a paid B&B or hotel room for a while but that's about it. There is literally no council house stock in ireland anymore.

Think logically why would the force you (they won't), to do anything? The council will be happy you're adequately housed (no matter how small the boxroom is) and are not their problem!

Nope. Honestly you can rock up at the garda station homeless here and if there is no accommodation there is no accommodation. It is a totally different process here.

Oh, how awful 🥺 x

Why are you trying to conceive (from previous posts) when you’ve nowhere to live?

As others have said, you’ll be waiting a very long time for council house. Have you looked into the HAPP Scheme, you may be eligible for that?

In the meantime can you possibly get a small double bed for the box room? Not an ideal situation that you’re living in but realistically you won’t get a council house in the near future so you need to consider all other options

And if you are trying to conceive do not think for one second you will be housed because you have a baby either, you are still at the end of a very long list of people more urgently in need.