Choice Based Letting system is rolled out to Tipperary County Council housing applicants

Tipperary County Council introduced the Choice Based Letting system for allocating social housing last week and has assured housing applicants help will be on hand from the council if they having difficulties signing up to the system that is only available online.
The council has rolled out the new housing allocation system in a bid to radically reduce housing tenancy offer refusal rates across the county,
As the name suggests, under Choice Based Letting housing applicants, along with tenancy transfer applicants and Housing Assistant Payment (HAP) tenants can submit an expression of interest in living in vacant social housing properties that become available for letting and are advertised on the CBL website.
Approved housing applicants must register for the CBL website in order to access the CBL system.
According to Tipperary County Council, once an expression of interest in a property has been made by an approved applicant, it will be registered on the system and the applicant will then be considered for the property.
“Where more than one expression of interest has been received for a property, properties will be allocated in accordance with the provisions of the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme 2021.”
Sean Lonergan of Tipperary County Council's Housing Section told Clonmel Borough District’s monthly meeting that the Choice Based Letting scheme was being introduced from Monday, March 21 and was advertised in the local press and radio.
Letters were being issued to all housing applicants giving them an ID and password to allow them access the website.
He appealed to councillors to “spread the word” about the new system among constituents.
“It is important that all housing applicants are aware of it for the allocation of houses.
“The majority of the council’s vacant houses will go up on the website and applicants can make expressions of interest or bids. If you don’t make a bid on a property you won’t be considered for it.”
Workers & Unemployment Action Group Cllr Pat English asked what kind of back up will the council give to people who don’t have the IT skills to go online.
Mr Lonergan responded that the Choice Based Letting system will be available for people to access at all Municipal District offices and local libraries and staff will be available in all these locations to help people sign up to the system.
He assured councillors the CBL system was “very simple” to navigate both for housing applicants and administrators.
“There is a tutorial uploaded onto the system that you can access going through step by step. There is also a frequently asked questions section.”
Clonmel Borough District director of services Sinead Carr said it was hoped the Choice Based letting system will bring down the housing offer refusal rate, which was between 23 and 25% in the county.
Fine Gael Cllr John Fitzgerald said it behoved every councillor to assist housing applicants with making expressions of interest in vacant social houses advertised on CBL on the online system.
He welcomed the introduction of CBL as he felt it was a “good way” of allocating social housing.
And Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Michael Murphy requested the council to engage with the Citizens Information office about the Choice Based Letting system.
“I fully endorse Choice Based Letting. It’s the right step in the right direction in terms of reducing the refusal rate. It puts more transparency into the system as well,” he added.