Can't get Council to do Housing Assesment

Deagol

Hi all, wondering if anyone has any suggestions to this problem:

My daughter is trying to get a rental house for her and her kids - she's on the council list but needs something fairly urgently. I'm willing to help her with rent etc but she needs to claim HAP - she can't afford to pay the full rent amount each month and I can't help her to that degree.

We've found a house that's nearly ready to take her, but since last November she's been waiting for the council to do the assessment of needs to claim the HAP. Everytime she rings them they put her through to the housing department phone which is never answered.

She's tried to contact some local councillors but they ignore emails and calls also.

She's at her wits end trying to get this assessment done and I'm completely flabbergasted by just how completely useless the housing department appear to us to be in there. They appear to me to get away with doing nothing by just ignoring any queries. I'm sorely tempted to drive to the offices and create a scene but until I'm exhausted all over avenues I'm holding off on that one!

Anyone have any experience of how to break through this wall?

splinter65

Deagol wrote: »

Hi all, wondering if anyone has any suggestions to this problem:

My daughter is trying to get a rental house for her and her kids - she's on the council list but needs something fairly urgently. I'm willing to help her with rent etc but she needs to claim HAP - she can't afford to pay the full rent amount each month and I can't help her to that degree.

We've found a house that's nearly ready to take her, but since last November she's been waiting for the council to do the assessment of needs to claim the HAP. Everytime she rings them they put her through to the housing department phone which is never answered.

She's tried to contact some local councillors but they ignore emails and calls also.

She's at her wits end trying to get this assessment done and I'm completely flabbergasted by just how completely useless the housing department are in there. They seem to get away with doing nothing by just ignoring any queries. I'm sorely tempted to drive to the offices and create a scene but until I'm exhausted all over avenues I'm holding off on that one!

Anyone have any experience of how to break through this wall?

Why do you think that the housing section are “useless” and “doing nothing”?!?

Berty

Email them then and you'll have a record of the times you've tried to contact them. Have you been calling them directly? (065) 6846334

housing@clarecoco.ie

Deagol

splinter65 wrote: »

Why do you think that the housing section are “useless” and “doing nothing”?!?

Did you read the OP or just skip straight to defensive mode? If you have nothing to contribute why bother replying?

I’m guessing you have some undeclared interest?

Deagol

Berty wrote: »

Email them then and you'll have a record of the times you've tried to contact them. Have you been calling them directly? (065) 6846334

housing@clarecoco.ie

I’ll check exactly what number she’s been ringing but again today she rang 3 times and phone just rings out. Infuriating when you can’t even get a response to a basic query.

Thanks for constructive suggestion.

MarkR

Deagol wrote: »

Did you read the OP or just skip straight to defensive mode? If you have nothing to contribute why bother replying?

I’m guessing you have some undeclared interest?

It was a legitimate question, in that no one here presumably knows what, if anything, the housing section is doing. If you have an issue with a poster with what you think to be ulterior motives, please report the post.

Shapey Fiend

This is not entirely unusual. You want to try and get in contact with a Councillor or TD to give them a nudge.

The Citizen's Information office on Bindon Lane is staffed by very helpful people can probably give her a little advice on how to approach it.

Deagol

Shapey Fiend wrote: »

This is not entirely unusual. You want to try and get in contact with a Councillor or TD to give them a nudge.

The Citizen's Information office on Bindon Lane is staffed by very helpful people can probably give her a little advice on how to approach it.

The TD thing is a little tough at the moment - we had approached DOoley and Breen...

But the citizens advice is a great idea, thanks!

ger664

Call to the Housing section in Council Office in person. They have a public area with people who should be able to handle/advance your query.

august12

Deagol wrote: »

The TD thing is a little tough at the moment - we had approached DOoley and Breen...

But the citizens advice is a great idea, thanks!

Did you email as suggested by another poster??

Deagol

august12 wrote: »

Did you email as suggested by another poster??

We called in personally and got some amount of reassurance that the assessment is imminent - though the cynic in me wonders if that was just a platitude to get rid of us.. we shall see!