Local housing need - how does one qualify?

B

Bluebean

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hello,

I've noticed lately that a lot of sites in the area where I am currently renting are coming up for sale with the 'local housing need only' condition.

I have been renting for 10 years, neither my partner or I have any property anywhere. We have been renting in our current area for just over 2 years now.

What is the criteria for local housing need? How/where could I find out more about it?

Do you have to be born/reared in the area before you are considered?

Many thanks.
 
Have a look on your relevant county council website, under the planning section this should have the definition of your county's local needs. In general the needs are;
1. Have lived in the area for 10 years (at any point in time), this is proved by letters from priest, school etc.
2. Have worked in the area for 10 years, eg. worked on a farm
3. Your need exists because you have to look after relatives in the area and so need to move there to do this.
these are generally the requirements but do look on your county council website, it is usually (county)coco.ie.
 
thanks erw fan.

I have worked in the area for almost 7 years, rented in 2 different houses for the same length of time. I am not from the area, neither is my partner. We do not own any property.
As such, we are in 'need' of housing (we dont want to stay paying rent forever), and have mortgage approval for approx 350k.
We would really like to build rather than buy at this stage, as at least you would have your own little 1/2 an acre at the end of it all. Sites which require a local housing need still aren't exactly cheap (200k).
I looked at the county council site, but it doesn't seem to give a lot of info, just fill out a form and hope for the best.
I am in Galway, the area we are looking at is approx 10 miles outside the city.

Can anyone advise what our next step should be? the local auctioneer said if we found a site that we really really like, that we should dig our heels in and try our best to get it. He also said that it is somewhat discriminatory to disallow planning just because we were not born in the area.

Has anyone any experience of this?

thanks.
 
Its probably a no then. You must be head of the local GAA club or something like that to qualify as local if your family has no land within 10 miles of Galway. Housing need in Galway is strictly speaking nothing to do with your own need but with the needs of the Community and the Family and You in concert and together .

Nevertheless Galway Council have refused school principals within that belt (it may be as far as 25km in some planners eyes) and told them to move into Galway City instead ... straight up. Even running an essential local service does not make you local . The planners are quite happy to leave the local parents and kids in the pissing rain every morning till the principal eventually shows up .

Some planners are more flexible than others but God help you if you get an asshole . Do not even bother applying if one of the assholes is doing your area now, wait for them to rotate out a year or two later and hope the new planner is a decent skin .

Meanwhile get to be heads of the GAA and the ICA and the Drama Society and the Community Alert Scheme and Meals on Wheels and all the other local things that prove you are essential to the area. In Galway that probably means all of them.
 
Thanks for the heads up 2pack. The annoying thing is that the sites which have this restriction often stay on the market for up to a year, and are then withdrawn as they cannot get buyers for them.

Any point do you think in going down the discrimination line, (going to court) or would it only end up being more hassle than its worth?

thanks.
 
Bluebean said:
Any point do you think in going down the discrimination line, (going to court) or would it only end up being more hassle than its worth?
Click to expand...
No point going legal in my opinion. Not unless you ask and they refuse you in writing which they will be careful not to do save to say you did not "prove " a local need . They will verbally ask for stuff and then ignore it completely and refuse to weigh aspects of it or score it, thats how Galway Planners operate.

The withdrawal of sites from the market shows how hard it is to get someone thru the local need hoop to buy the sites. Lots of them have enurements (sales restrictions) too and the council may not let you take over the restriction for being 'as local' as the person who got the original planning .

Approach a few heads who pulled sites with those clauses off the market and have a chat with them. They need someone who can get 'local' status or else they cannot sell at all so their market is limited.
 
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