Over 90 on housing list turned down social housing offers, councillors told

Some 91 people on the housing list have turned down properties offered to them by Westmeath County Council since the start of this year.

The figure was disclosed to members of the council at their September monthly meeting – and it was greeted by disbelief by councillors, who expressed frustration at the impact refusals are having on the allocation of homes and the turnaround of vacant properties.

Cllr Mick Dollard said he was “astounded” by the number of refusals. He said the council was doing a “huge job” providing social housing and praised the housing staff and capital team for the work being carried out, but pointed out that the number of refusals was not something that was widely discussed in public debate or in the media when local authorities are criticised over housing and housing lists.

Cllr Vinny McCormack was also surprised at the figure, saying councillors had previously discussed what appeared to be a high level of refusals but that it was useful to now have a firm statistic.

He said he understood the frustration of housing staff who worked to match families with suitable properties, only to have to begin the process again when an offer was rejected.

Cllr McCormack said he had heard a range of reasons from people for refusing properties, including not liking an area, wanting a house rather than an apartment, or wanting a back garden.

He called for the issue to be raised with the Minister, arguing that refusals were creating additional work and using council resources.

Cllr Aengus O’Rourke also backed the concerns, saying he had “every sympathy” for housing staff who had worked to put allocations in place only to hear reasons for refusing properties.

Cllr Alfie Devine went further, calling for changes to prevent people from making repeated refusals of offers. He argued that applicants should not be allowed change their area of choice simply because they see a new housing development being built, describing this as people “taking a chance” on securing a new house.

However, Director of Housing Ambrose Clarke explained that the situation was governed by the council’s allocation scheme and national arrangements.

Under Westmeath’s 2025 allocation scheme, applicants nominate three areas in which they would like to receive a house. They are entitled to two refusals within a 12-month period.

Mr Clarke said that, although the council was experiencing a high number of refusals, it did not have the power to simply remove that entitlement.

He said there could be a variety of reasons for refusing an offer, including wanting a garden, compassionate circumstances or a change in a person’s work location.

“Lots of things can be given, and a lot of these things can be valid too,” he told councillors.

However, he acknowledged that having three choices of area and the ability to refuse twice within 12 months was contributing to the numbers.

Mr Clarke said the refusals were also having an impact on the turnaround time for void properties.

The council’s Director of Services Jackie Finney said the issue had already been raised with the Department of Housing.

She said the national regulations around refusals and the penalties attached to repeated refusals were “not really a disincentive” to people refusing properties on a number of occasions.

Mr Clarke said the housing team was continuing to do its best to get vacant houses back into use as quickly as possible.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme