Told Informally I was to be offered a council house

Thisisme2019

Hi

I was told by my local councillor 8 weeks ago that i got my council house and to wait for letter but have received no letter or phone call from council, has this happened anybody else and if so what did you do? I keep trying to get in touch with councillor but just keeps ignoring or saying will get update and let me know and doesnt. Dont want to hassle him but 8 weeks and still no word

Graham

Mod Warning

Do not post in this thread unless you have an answer to the OPs question.

happywithlife

8 weeks ago would have been around the elections no? Any fear they just told you that to secure a vote? Would the offer not have to come from the local authority anyway - why / how could an individual councillor guarantee such a thing?
I have no experience though with how the system works so others might better advise but I wouldn't be holding my breath

Plumbthedepths

Ring the housing officer, a councillor has no authority to allocate a house to anyone.

kippy

Not much you can do really.
Wait it out while you keep trying to contact the councillor.

Fann Linn

Did you ask your local cllr to make representations on your behalf? Since GDPR was introduced cllrs can no longer nip into housing sections and enquire about <snip> status on the list without filling out paperwork and you granting permission for your business to be divulged.

mikemac2

The councilor likely doesn’t have much information. Maybe he saw a preview list and contacted every applicant claiming credit

You should not need him to find out

Fann Linn

mikemac2 wrote: »

The councilor likely doesn’t have much information. Maybe he saw a preview list and contacted every applicant claiming credit

You should not need him to find out

Exactly. The OP should pick up the 'phone or call into their local housing office and find out their status. On the other hand however, if a cllr is making unwarranted enquiries on constituents or other service users I'd definitely be going to see the relevant LA's Data Protection Officer.

Thisisme2019

happywithlife wrote: »

8 weeks ago would have been around the elections no? Any fear they just told you that to secure a vote? Would the offer not have to come from the local authority anyway - why / how could an individual councillor guarantee such a thing?
I have no experience though with how the system works so others might better advise but I wouldn't be holding my breath

Yes before elections so you could be right.

Thisisme2019

Fann Linn wrote: »

Did you ask your local cllr to make representations on your behalf? Since GDPR was introduced cllrs can no longer nip into housing sections and enquire about <snip> status on the list without filling out paperwork and you granting permission for your business to be divulged.

Hi yeah i did ask the councillor to make representations on my behalf, but dont know how it all works to be honest.

riclad

The way it works in dublin is its based on points, you get points based
on how long you are on the list, how many kids you have ,
points for medical ailment,s , are you on disability allowance,
are you single, etc
My friend has one child , she was told only people with 2 children get offered a house in dublin .
After 8 years she got a 2 bed apartment .
that was the 1st offer she got .
the points system is the only fair way to allocate a limited resource .
eg council housing.
its supposed to be neutral ,each month ,week, the person with the most points get offered a house,apartment .
If its suitable .
They wont offer a one bed house to someone with 2 children.
You choose 3 area,s , eg i,d like to live in finglas, city centre etc
you can call the housing dept to get more info.
or go to crosscare .
https://www.crosscare.ie/index.php/prevention-homelessness-home

or citizens advice centre if you want to know in detail how the housing allocation system works .
if you go to housing dept you,ll get info and a letter ,
print out, the no of points you have now, the area,s you picked to live in.
I,m going by info , i get from friends who were on the housing list with dublin city council .
The system may be different outside dublin .
theres the data protection act, would they give personal info to a local councillor, re someone on the housing list.
i,don,t know.

bingbong500

A local councillor has no access to the housing lists and has no idea who is next to be offered a house.

Nikki Sixx

Enjoy

the_syco

If in Dublin City Council; http://www.dublincity.ie/HousingOnline

If you have already applied for and have been accepted as eligible for social housing, you can check your place on the waiting list; https://dcciservices.dublincity.ie/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?OAFunc=XXDCC_OHMS_WL

If you require your Application Reference Number ring; 01-222 2201/2207

If not DCC, state where, and I'll see if I can find the relevant number. But don't get your hopes up; politicians will promise the moon to get into power.

riclad

Say next week theres 3 vacant units in dublin 15 at the moment .you won,t be offered
one unless you are close to the top of the housing list,and
you picked dublin 15 as an area where you wished to live,
on the application form.
Its not a random process, its done based on your application info and how many points you have .
As i said ,in practice only people with 2 children or more will be offered a house ,at least in dublin.

kirving

bingbong500 wrote: »

A local councillor has no access to the housing lists and has no idea who is next to be offered a house.

In theory, they don't. In practice local politics is far more shady than that. I know multiple people who work in very disadvantaged areas who all tell me that those who shout the loudest, in the right direction, get the best houses.

bingbong500

Kevin Irving wrote: »

In theory, they don't. In practice local politics is far more shady than that. I know multiple people who work in very disadvantaged areas who all tell me that those who shout the loudest, in the right direction, get the best houses.

Nope

kirving

bingbong500 wrote: »

Nope

So you can tell me, categorically, through all of the corruption and poor governance that's been exposed over the years in this country, that it has never happened?

Can you explain to me what checks and balances are in place to prevent this, and how impossible it is for them to be circumvented. Because we've heard that all before.

Graham

Mod Note

Keving Irving, please don't take the thread off topic.

bingbong500

It's not how things work, simple as that. GDPR is king in the council, any data breach on that obvious and egregious scale would be known about by everyone. You get in trouble for leaving a post it note on your desk with someones phone number on it, if you were telling non involved parties about the housing list, the roof would blow off the place

Gumbo

Kevin Irving wrote: »

In theory, they don't. In practice local politics is far more shady than that. I know multiple people who work in very disadvantaged areas who all tell me that those who shout the loudest, in the right direction, get the best houses.

This is very possible from years gone by. I know many housing estate officers, and housing allocation officers, and they told me the same story.

bingbong500 wrote: »

It's not how things work, simple as that. GDPR is king in the council, any data breach on that obvious and egregious scale would be known about by everyone. You get in trouble for leaving a post it note on your desk with someones phone number on it, if you were telling non involved parties about the housing list, the roof would blow off the place

+1

DCC for example operate a clean desk policy. Everything must be filled away by the end of the working day and no files left out and about. Remember, you have general members of the public in the building at night such as security or contract cleaning staff. If they were to gain access to files they could see the details on planning enforcement cases, complainants etc