Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2026
576. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of the local authorities now operating the choice-based letting system for the advertising of available social housing units within local authorities and approved housing bodies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16211/26]
View answerChoice-Based Letting (CBL) is a method that can be used by local authorities to allocate social housing, whereby available social housing stock is let by being openly advertised, allowing qualified applicants to ‘bid’ for or ‘register an interest’ in available homes. Applicants respond to available properties advertised by local authorities, rather than waiting for an authority to offer them a dwelling. This approach offers more choice, transparency and involvement for applicant households in selecting a new home, thereby reducing the likelihood of a refusal, improving re-let times and helping to build sustainable tenancies and stable communities.
My Department is currently collecting data regarding to CBL in 2025. The main purpose of this survey is to examine the uptake and impact of CBL across the 31 local authorities.
My Department's 2024 survey indicated that 19 local authorities were operating CBL. These local authorities are: Clare, Cork City, Cork County, Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Galway City, Galway County, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Meath, South Dublin, Tipperary, Wexford and Waterford.
My Department continues to work with the remaining local authorities to support their development of a Choice Based Letting model as part of suite of actions focused on social housing allocations and the associated process and arrangements at local authority and AHB level identified in the national housing plan.
