Affordable housing interview

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BobDobalina

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Hi there. I was hoping someone here could help me. I have been called for an interview for affordable housing. I rang citizens advice to find out what sort of questions I would be asked but they did not know. Does anyone here know the type of questions I might be asked? Has anyone here had these interviews before? I'd really appreciate the help as I want to go in to the interview well prepared.
 
hi, i did the interview for the affordable housing in april last year. its more just going through all the information regarding your finances that you have supplied. They'll then inform you of how the system works & how long that you will be expected to wait, if they require any further info and what type of property you would qualify. its very informal and certainly nothing to worry about.
 
in relation to the affordable housing, where can you go to see what type of houses come under this heading? is there a website listing or is it in your local county council?
 
emc said:
hi, i did the interview for the affordable housing in april last year. its more just going through all the information regarding your finances that you have supplied. They'll then inform you of how the system works & how long that you will be expected to wait, if they require any further info and what type of property you would qualify. its very informal and certainly nothing to worry about.
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Thanks for the help. It's good to know the interview is informal.

Also - I applied for affordable housing 3 years ago. Every year including last year I have been well below the income limit. However this year due to getting a new job I am over the limit - will that affect me in the interview?

Thanks again.
 
As far as I know they take last year's earnings into account. I'm not sure if it's your earnings a year before the time you apply or a year before the time you may actually get a house that are taken into account.
 
no in fairness they will use your current wages. the only thing is that they do require that you are permanent in your job and require proof of this.

househunter7. its under each co council for places that they currently have or will have on offer.
 
emc said:
no in fairness they will use your current wages. the only thing is that they do require that you are permanent in your job and require proof of this.
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Are you sure this is true? I have been waiting 3 years and I would be really disgusted if I miss out because they waited so long to offer me something. 3 years living at home is not easy after being out of home for 8!!! They have already asked me for documentation regarding income from last year and permanent employment etc. Surely they wouldn't waste my time calling me to interview if I hadn't qualified?

According to Oasis the income test is:

  • Single income household
If your gross income (before tax) in the last income tax year was 40,000 euro or less (effective January 2006), (previously the limit was 36,500 euro), you are eligible.
 
Just in case anyone is interested - I had the interview and it was exactly like emc described - casual and easy-going. I was asked questions on the financial information I provided. I was told savings were important, and asked to provide documentation on my own savings. I was asked about monthly income. I was also informed about the 10 year clawback etc and told a little about the houses.

Now things proceed to the next stage. There are 100 people going for 9 houses. Interview points dictate who come first. Then it goes into a lottery. It is certainly a drawn out process!
 
BobDobalina said:
Also - I applied for affordable housing 3 years ago.
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What county council kept you waiting that long? I have heard of people getting offered houses in a matter of months. Sounds like a very long time, is this Dun Laoghaire Rathdown? Are they the only ones who do a lottery?
 
Went to an interview with a friend yesterday, six houses 200 in for them. I was wondering when you are looking for the mortg is the value of the house the market value or the price you are paying to the Council
 
Stronge said:
Went to an interview with a friend yesterday, six houses 200 in for them. I was wondering when you are looking for the mortg is the value of the house the market value or the price you are paying to the Council
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The council are giving you the mortgage, so if you're getting the house/apartment for 140000 for example, this is the maximum mortgage, in fact south dublin county council will give you maximum 97% of the price therefore maximum mortgage is 97% of 140000 in this example, someone please correct me if I have got anything wrong here
 
I don't think that it's always true that the council give you the mortgage. For example in Dun Laoighre Rathdown loans are available from Bank of Ireland or EBS or the Shared Ownership Scheme.

Also someone asked earlier about Dun Laoighre Rathdown using a lottery system; as far as I know they have used a lottery in the past but from now on will be using a points system to priorities the affordable housing.
 
madisona said:
The lead story in Mondays Independant was on affordable housing.
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Did anyone get a read of this? what was the gist of it? wonder how you could get your hands on that article
 
househunter7 said:
Did anyone get a read of this? what was the gist of it? wonder how you could get your hands on that article
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No I didn't get to read this but would be delighted if anyone could explain what was in it. I am going for interview next Monday. I am applying as a single applicant. I can not afford to buy a house so this is my only hope!!!! However due to extra p/t work I do I appear to be over the limit. I guess I haven't a hope then...catch 22 ..up to my eyes in debt (10 years at Uni!!!)..can't get a mortage and on paper appear over the limit.
 
Just a quick point regarding the mortgage options when buying an affordable house. I have applied to Wexford Co. Co. for an affordable house and I was told just this week the situation in relation to mortgages. Basically, if you under a certain income limit (not sure what the figure is but I think it's circa €28k) then your only option is to get a mortgage with the Council. However, if you are above this income limit (and obviously below the upper income limit) then there are a certain number of "approved lending institions", what I call normal lending institutions - as opposed to the Council, that you can apply to. Just to let you know.

I have everything crossed at the moment hoping I get one of these, after living at home for five years and saving like MAD I'm really hoping that this is the answer. I'm not holding my breath tho... here's hoping!
 
Well, I got the letter yesterday telling me I was unsuccessful. I rang the council today. They told me I was unsuccessful because I didn't have a local authority house. They also said I had no money for a deposit. I told them I have a special savings account (they have my balance for that which is a very decent sum of money). They said that money isn't immediately available. I said it is - I had even talked to the bank - you can take it out any time. I am bitterly disappointed. If it were a case that it went to a lottery I would have said fair enough, but to not even get the points means I may aswell quit the housing list now.

A friend of mine had told me I would never get one of those houses without talking to a politician. Perhaps he was right.
 
BobDobalina
Sorry to hear you weren't successful, but why don't you contact them in wirting and ask for a review of their decision.
Challenge them, push back every item they have verbally said is not in your favour, be it the deposit, or the local authority housing. Contest that you are surprised that they seem to be suggesting that you join the housing list instead of working toward home ownership, is this normal?
They must have guidelines available to them for deciding who's successful and who isnt', ask for a copy, ask for copies from successful candidates (you probably won't get it but its worth asking), how closely do they meet the criteria.
Keep the politician in reserve, but do push back.
 
BobDobalina said:
Well, I got the letter yesterday telling me I was unsuccessful. .

A friend of mine had told me I would never get one of those houses without talking to a politician. Perhaps he was right.
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I am so sorry to hear your news. I also heard that you need to talk to a politician so I have contacted 4 of them who have all made representations on my behalf. I had my interview 3 weeks ago where I felt ridiculous and as If i was begging. Anyway Im not hopefull and the houses are 250K (not very affordable when purchasing on your own)

Would you consider applying again in another area and contacting evert TD there is?

Hope it works out

:mad:
 
mell61 - thanks for that advice. I emailed the council yesterday and made some queries. I did feel I should push back, and with that encouragement I am going to push some more. I also mailed a local cllr. I haven't heard back from either, and if neither have responded by later today then I will mail again.

Judybaby73- thanks for the support. I have contacted one cllr and perhaps I should contact some more. Or perhaps I should go higher. I was even considering contacting free legal aid, but I will give the council a couple of days to respond to my emails before I take it further.

Like I said, I don't mind loosing out on fair grounds, thus I need some transparency here to see what the heck is going on.
 
BobDobalina said:
They told me I was unsuccessful because I didn't have a local authority house. They also said I had no money for a deposit.
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We applied for affordable housing (SDCC) last month and got all documents back with letter saying we had no enough money for a deposit... :mad:
 
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