Council Housing

extrapolate

Hi,

Just a quick post to get some advice about a couple of things that have been happening with my local county council.

I was talking with a lady at the desk about my circumstances and a couple of issues that had come up. She advised me to get a letter from my doctor and to send it in to the council with a letter requesting an appointment to discuss my circumstances. She gave me the name of the housing officer to address it to.

I dropped that letter in on June 8th. I heard nothing back at all. On the 22nd, I gave them a ring to to ask to talk to the housing officer but they told me she was busy and they would leave her an e-mail with my name and number to call me back. She never called me back so the following week I rang again and got the same response that she was busy and I could leave her a voicemail. So I did and left her my name and number. We're in July now and I still haven't heard anything, feeling completely ignored, they didn't even acknowledge receipt of the doctor's letter.

I don't know what I should do next?

wifey28

So firstly (you dont have to answer obvs)
This doctors letter, are you trying to get medical priority on the list?
If so a Gp's letter wont get you anywhere, priorty is only given out for very serious illness, think cancer, and requires a consultant letter to confirm diagnosis and treatment plan.
Mental health issues will not get you priority in most cases (I tried with 3 consultant psych letters and got no where, only when I was diagnosed with cancer several years later did i get priority, I applied with 3 consultant letters in mid jan and was awarded late feb, was notified by letter)

The council are notorious for dragging their feet, the more you call the more they drag them. If you dropped the letter in then it has been added to your file and the correct person in the office will be told of this. They dont usually call you to let you know they have recieved the letter, they will only contact you to tell you if you have been accepted or denied. Or to request more info .

fussyonion

wifey28 wrote: »

So firstly (you dont have to answer obvs)
This doctors letter, are you trying to get medical priority on the list?
If so a Gp's letter wont get you anywhere, priorty is only given out for very serious illness, think cancer, and requires a consultant letter to confirm diagnosis and treatment plan.
Mental health issues will not get you priority in most cases (I tried with 3 consultant psych letters and got no where, only when I was diagnosed with cancer several years later did i get priority, I applied with 3 consultant letters in mid jan and was awarded late feb, was notified by letter)

The council are notorious for dragging their feet, the more you call the more they drag them. If you dropped the letter in then it has been added to your file and the correct person in the office will be told of this. They dont usually call you to let you know they have recieved the letter, they will only contact you to tell you if you have been accepted or denied. Or to request more info .

That's not strictly true.


My Uncle was given medical priority for council housing due to his myriad of medical conditions, including arthritis, which probably wouldn't be classed as a serious illness but still a condition which affected his quality of life.
He was still waiting 10 years though.


OP did you photocopy the doctor's letter?
Councils are notorious for losing documents; always keep a copy.
If I were you I would visit them in person and ask if they definitely received the letter and what's the next step?

wifey28

fussyonion wrote: »

My Uncle was given medical priority for council housing due to his myriad of medical conditions, including arthritis, which probably wouldn't be classed as a serious illness but still a condition which affected his quality of life.
He was still waiting 10 years though.

Waiting 10 years would lead me to believe your uncle was not granted medical priority.

In cork, at the county council I was informed medical priority generally gets you housed in under 2 years. I was granted medical priority in feb and was housed late may (i did get lucky and some houses in our target area were just finished when i was granted priority, and because of the severity of my illness i was granted top priority)

fussyonion

He was granted medical priority.
Do you know how long waiting lists are in Dublin?

extrapolate

wifey28 wrote: »

The council are notorious for dragging their feet, the more you call the more they drag them. If you dropped the letter in then it has been added to your file and the correct person in the office will be told of this. They dont usually call you to let you know they have recieved the letter, they will only contact you to tell you if you have been accepted or denied. Or to request more info .

Thanks. That's just what I'm worried about, knowing that they've gotten it and it's been added to my file for consideration.

fussyonion wrote: »

My Uncle was given medical priority for council housing due to his myriad of medical conditions, including arthritis, which probably wouldn't be classed as a serious illness but still a condition which affected his quality of life.
He was still waiting 10 years though.


OP did you photocopy the doctor's letter?
Councils are notorious for losing documents; always keep a copy.
If I were you I would visit them in person and ask if they definitely received the letter and what's the next step?

I have a copy of the letter and it's still on file with my doctor, so I might pop in on Monday then and just ask at the counter if it was received and how to proceed. Thanks for that! I've actually been 11 years on the list but it was between two counties, for reasons outside of my control and unfortunately they told me time spent on another list is not something they would take into consideration. Which is fine, but hard to deal with.

Just for clarification since I didn't mention in the original post, I deal with a combination of medical, mental and housing issues. Which alone are difficult but together they super stressful and it makes it harder when I'm meeting a brick wall.

fussyonion

I know only too well how stressful it is dealing with the council.
I wish you the very best.

I’ve been on priority housing for medicinal ground since April 2018 does that mean by 2020 I’ll be housed in on for mental health

Gatling

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I’ve been on priority housing for medicinal ground since April 2018 does that mean by 2020 I’ll be housed in on for mental health

If your a single person with no family it's likely your looking at beyond 2020

ayux4rj6zql2ph

This post has been deleted.

Gatling

Prisoner 6753 wrote: »

Do current social housing tenants get priority for a transfer on medical grounds over someone with medical issues on the waiting list? I have no affiliation to social housing bar being raised in one.

Just being devils advocate with the question.

Separate lists for the situation in question

Gatling

Gatling wrote: »

If your a single person with no family it's likely your looking at beyond 2020

I’ve been on the housing list since 2017 and priority since April 2018 and yes I’m single

wifey28

Deleted User wrote: »

I’ve been on the housing list since 2017 and priority since April 2018 and yes I’m single

Unfortunately if your single even with medical priority youll be waiting a few years.



When i was granted medical priority I was married with 2 little kids, facing homelessness with cancer. So i got top priority and got lucky 8 houses were handed out in my preferred area 3 months later.


Single bedroom places arent seen as being in such demand these days (altho most of us know thats untrue) and the councils seem to only be building housing estates with 3-4 bed houses for families

Kristopherus

@OP. It might be no harm to enlist 1 or 2 local councillors to assist you with the application. Best of luck.

Gatling

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I’ve been on the housing list since 2017 and priority since April 2018 and yes I’m single

One year

Unfortunately your in for a seriously long wait

2027 at least based off the current climate it almost sounds shocking but their is a lot of people out there in double figure waiting list bracket

Gatling

Gatling wrote: »

One year

Unfortunately your in for a seriously long wait

2027 at least based off the current climate it almost sounds shocking but their is a lot of people out there in double figure waiting list bracket

I’m on it for mental health plus I’m going to court next year hoping to get my abuser behind bars as I wa raped for 4 years as a child and I attending mental health clinics and rape crisis centre.

They have all this on file with my letters from the DPP and summoning letter for next year along with letters from Willowdale my mental health clinic

Will I still be waiting along time as I’ve no family they don’t believe sexual abuse is real disowned me and I was homeless I’m currently just renting a room

Squatter

Kristopherus wrote: »

@OP. It might be no harm to enlist 1 or 2 local councillors to assist you with the application. Best of luck.

Problem with that is that almost every councillor probably already has a handful of similar cases on their books, so, at the end of the day, the value of such support is debatable. When virtually every applicant has one, or more, councillors making representations for them, the overall effect is to make such representations almost worthless.