More information needed on age-friendly accomodation says Councillor

More information needs to be more readily available and in the public domain advertising potential home move options available to both local authority tenants and homeowners wishing to ‘Rightsize’ according to one South Dublin County Councillor.

Sinn Féin Councillor Derren Ó Brádaigh said;

“Rightsizing and allocation of age-friendly accommodation came before us at my very first Council meeting in December 2020. This is a policy that I fully support and that seeks to address both the independent needs of our older population, whilst making the very best use of existing homes already in our communities.

“I understand that 205 applications were made to the Council’s housing section in 2023. Of these 112 were from existing Council tenants, with 93 expressions of interest for the Private Financial Contribution Scheme from homeowners.

Ó Brádaigh, a councillor representing Lucan and Palmerstown-Fonthill added;

“Whilst 29 Council tenants have successfully transferred to new age-friendly accommodation from the figure mentioned, progress from the private home applicant end of things appears to be much slower. Only 2 are near completion stage, 12 have been referred to the Housing Procurement Section for valuation and inspection checks, with the vast remaining majority experiencing delays with requested documentation.

Cllr Ó Brádaigh also said;

“A previous Council occupancy study revealed that there were approximately 700 homes with single occupancy and a further 500 homes with two people residing, all over the age of 55. Approximately 20% of households on the Council’s housing list have a need for three or four-bedroom homes.

“Providing choice to people that wish to transition to alternative and more tailored living, where there is perhaps only two persons or even a single person living alone in a three or four-bedroom home, thus freeing up potential homes for larger families on the housing list has much merit. However, it is crucial that all planned or prospective supply of age-friendly housing is designed to be age appropriate and must help to support independent living as well as being within easy reach of transport, healthcare and other key services and supports for older persons within existing communities.

Cllr Ó Brádaigh concluded;

“In response to an official question I just received, the Council will shortly launch a new dedicated webpage on www.sdcc.ie providing information on Right Sizing options for tenants and private homeowners in the County with details of how to apply, images and locations of upcoming age friendly housing opportunities in the County. This is something I very much welcome and I hope that any identified paperwork obstacles will be addressed to help in moving the process along.”