Councillors hear of 'incredible' seven-week wait for social housing applications to be processed in county Cork

THE average processing time for a social-housing application to Cork County Council is seven weeks, which concerns councillors, who say people are being left in limbo as they wait for a decision to access council supports.

This is the latest figure from Cork County Council’s Housing Department.

In 2021, the council received 1,234 new applications for social housing, 827 of which were approved. In the first four months of this year, the council received a further 411 applications.

With approximately 100 new applications per month, councillors expressed concern at the turnaround time of seven weeks.

Cathal Rasmussen, deputy mayor, said the estimated wait time seemed “incredible”, as applicants are told to expect a wait of 12 to 16 weeks, and some Cork constituents report even longer waits.

Mary Linehan Foley, Independent councillor, added that people in south Cork are waiting around 20 weeks for applications to be processed, with some constituents waiting since November for a decision. 

“People are waiting 10 and 20 weeks to be approved, and until they’re approved, the council isn’t responsible for them… there’s a gap there where they’re not our responsibility, and there’s nothing we can do,” Ms Linehan Foley said.

Seamus McGrath, Fianna Fáil councillor, suggested that onerous requirements for documentation from foreign authorities could be looked at to speed up processing of applications.

Council chief executive, Tim Lucey, said that there are no stand-out “failures” of the applications process in the housing department, but that any specific issues could be looked at and addressed to streamline the process.