Social housing income thresholds
Deputy Boyd Barrett criticised the long-awaited review of social housing income thresholds and the loss of housing-list time for working families. The Minister said the issue is being actively worked on within Cabinet and that the Housing Minister will update him directly.
I have genuinely lost count of the number of times I have asked the Government and successive Ministers with responsibility for housing in successive Governments when we are going to get the decision on the review of the social housing income thresholds. Every week, people are coming to me who have been thrown off the housing lists after ten, 12 and even 15 years of waiting. All that time has gone because those people did the terrible thing of getting a job, with the result that their incomes went a bit over the threshold. They are punished for that by losing all those years they have been waiting. However, there is a benefit for the Government because apparently the numbers in need of social housing go down. I think that is why we are not getting the results of this review. In the longest review I have ever heard of, which has been ongoing for at least five years, I have heard again and again-----
Comment on this
When are we going to get the results of the review? Will all those people thrown off the housing lists over the past couple of years get their time back?
Comment on this
I have heard the Deputy raise this issue on a number of occasions, along with others. It is being actively worked on. I know that because I am a member of the Cabinet committee on housing, where it has been an agenda item. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has presented on it. I will ask him to respond directly to the Deputy with an update on the timeframe for the outcome of that work.