REVEALED: Tipperary housing applicants have ‘better chance of winning the Lotto’

A local councillor observed that for those in Tipperary searching for a one-bedroom social home, the odds are so slim they might as well buy a Lotto ticket instead.

Fianna Fáil councillor Siobhán Ambrose delivered these comments at the February Tipperary County Council meeting, urging the council to put one- and two-bedroom homes at the top of its housing agenda.

Councillors discussed the rule that prevents single people from bidding for two-bedroom council homes through the Choice Based Letting (CBL) system. Fianna Fáil councillor Sean Ryan said that single applicants often have good reasons for needing an extra room.

Through the CBL system, people approved on the council’s housing list can try to get homes that suit their needs. Each week, new homes are listed on the CBL website, and the council reviews the bids before giving the keys to the chosen people.

"Can we just try and get a policy on how, going forward, we can deal with single people bidding on two-bedroom houses?” Cllr Ryan asked.

"I appreciate that it’s a very complex issue, but we’ve all had representations about single people who really want a two-bedroom house, and there are various intricacies in that, for example, people’s marriages may have broken down through no fault, and people would have the children maybe one week and not the other week, and they do need a two-bedroomed house,” Cllr Ryan said.

"I’d like a definite policy on it because people ring me all the time and I have to tell them, look, it’s being dealt with, it’s been going on for a while,” he added.

Supporting her party colleague, Cllr Ambrose pointed to the serious shortage of one-bedroom homes in the county and said that single people should be allowed to bid for two-bedroom homes.

"I do want to concur with what has been proposed with respect to looking at those applying for a one-bed property having the option of applying for a two-bed property,” Cllr Ambrose said.

"Anyone who is waiting for a one-bed property really has more chance of winning the Lotto than getting a house, and that’s the reality, because it is very limiting because of the number of one-bed stock that we have,” she said.

"Everybody’s entitled to have somebody to stay, and I think it’s only fair that people who are approved for a one-bed would also be able to apply for a two-bed property,” Cllr Ambrose added.

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Responding to these concerns, the council’s head of housing, Jonathan Cooney, said that the current system aims to keep things fair for everyone on the list.is on the works programme for the housing strategic policy committee (SPC) in 2026, but while we’re supportive of it, at the same time, we have to have regard for the fact that we can’t have all one-bed people competing equally with all two-bed people,” he said.

"If you look at our demand, 77pc of our demand is one and two-bed applicants, but we can work through it with the SPC, and it will then come back before yourselves again,” Mr Cooney explained.

Mr Cooney also warned that letting people try for homes bigger than what they are given could make the housing shortage even worse.

"That could also add to two-bedroom applicants bidding on three-bedroom properties, but when you look historically, the majority of the houses built by the local authority have been three-bedroom properties for the last 80 or 100 years,” he explained.

"In recent times, we are amending this, in terms of increasing the numbers of one and two-bedroom properties, but we need to be conscious of any downsizing scheme that we’re not putting someone into a one or a two-bed when 77pc of our demand requires this type of housing, there needs to be a balancing act,” Mr Cooney added.

Another council housing representative noted that, while the local authority is building one- and two-bedroom properties, it will take time for supply to meet demand. For private developers, one- and two-bedroom properties are less viable, but the council’s 2026 housing delivery projects indicate that 57 per cent will be one- and two-bedroom properties.

"We are building one and two-bed properties, but given the historic under-delivery, it’s going to take time to catch up and meet the shortfall that’s there,” councillors were told.