When a household applies for social housing supports, they may have options in relation to which local authority (the “Council”) they choose to apply to.
Regulation 5 of the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 (the “2011 Regulations”) provide that the relevant local authority to apply to should be:
- “the housing authority for the functional area in which the household normally resides, or
- the housing authority for the functional area with which the household has a local connection [where the household does not normally reside in that functional area][1], or
- the housing authority that agrees, at its discretion, to conduct a social housing assessment in respect of that household on receipt of an application from the household.”
Some households may be able to choose between a number of different areas to apply for social housing supports.
You don’t have to apply to the local authority that you have the “best” link to – if you have options, it is up to you to choose where you want to apply.
How do you prove normal residence?
The law does not state exactly how you can show that you are normally resident in an area. The Department suggests that you can prove that you are normally resident by providing what they refer to as a “relevant document”. The Department of Housing has given some examples of the types of documents which could be used including a utility bill, proof of a social welfare payment, a lease, etc.
If you are “normally resident” in an area, you should not be asked to prove a “local connection” to that area.
What if I am in emergency accommodation?
The Department of Housing has also said that if a household are living in emergency accommodation, they may not be able to provide proof of address other than a social welfare payment. Households living in an area in emergency accommodation are not intended to need to prove a local connection as well in order to access social housing supports.
When should you prove “local connection”?
The law and the Department of Housing both say that you only need to show you have a local connection if you are applying for social housing in an area that you don’t live in. You do not need to prove both a local connection and normal residence in a particular area to be eligible to apply for social housing there.
How do you prove “local connection”?
Regulation 6 of the 2011 Regulations explains five different ways you could prove a local connection. If you can show that you meet even one of these, you could apply for social housing in that county – even though you don’t live there.
Local Connection can be shown:
- If any member of your household used to live in that area for a continuous 5-year period;
- If any member of your household is working in the area, or within 15 kilometres of the area;
- If any member of the household is in full-time education in the area;
- If any member of the household attends a specialist medical or residential establishment in the area; or
- If a relative of any member of the household lives in the area and has lived there for at least 2 years.
Example of a Local Connection
If you live in Dublin City, you might want to apply for social housing there. Some ways of proving that you are normally resident in Dublin City include: providing the Council with a utility bill, a social welfare payment, a lease, or another similar document with an address in Dublin City on it. If you do not have any of these documents available to you, there may be other ways of establishing you are normally resident in an area, depending on your circumstances.That way, you can show you are normally resident in Dublin City. This means you can apply under Regulation 5(a) and don’t have to prove a local connection.
If you live in Dublin City, but you want to apply for social housing somewhere else, you might be able to do that too. For example, even if you are currently living in Dublin:
- if you grew up in Waterford and can show that you lived there for more than five years in the past, you could apply there because you can prove a “local connection” because you used to live there (Regulation 6(a));
- if you are working in Kildare, you might want to apply for social housing close to where you work. You would be allowed to apply in Kildare instead of Dublin because your work gives you a “local connection” (Regulations 6(b));
- if one of the people in your household is in full time education in Galway, you could prove that you have a local connection there (Regulation 6(c));
- if you attend a specialist medical facilities in Cork, you could apply there with a local connection (Regulation 6(d)), or
- if your relatives live in Donegal and have been there at least two years, you could apply there through that local connection (Regulation 6(e)).
What if you want to go somewhere you don’t live and where you don’t have a local connection?
Every local authority is allowed to accept an application, even if you don’t live there or can’t show a local connection – this is Regulation 5(c). But, this is at their discretion – so you may need to explain to them why you want to apply to be on their social housing list.
The Department of Housing has given some guidance on this to local authorities too. For example, sometimes people who have experienced domestic violence may want to live somewhere completely different from where they used to live. The Department has told local authorities that they should accept these sorts of applications.
If you used to live in IPAS, you might not have been able to choose where you are resident or even have a local connection somewhere else. The Department has also encouraged local authorities to accept these applications under Regulation 5(c).
There may be other reasons that you are applying for housing somewhere that you don’t live or have a local connection. You should explain them to the local authority in writing and ask that they use their discretion.
What about accessing homeless services?
The 2011 Regulations do not relate to homeless services. They are only about long term social housing supports.
If you become homeless, you should attend your local authority and ask for a homeless assessment and access to emergency accommodation. They should not tell you that you need to prove a local connection.
If they ask you to prove a local connection, they may not be acting in compliance with the law. You don’t need to be prove normal residence or local connection to access homeless services.
If the Council refuse to provide you with emergency accommodation or a homeless assessment, you are entitled to request written reasons for this decision.
Though the law does not require you to be normally resident or have a local connection in order to access homeless services, if you wished to do so you could choose to provide evidence of your normal residence or your local connection. However, this is not a legal requirement to get a homeless assessment.
Written Reasons
If a local authority refuses to accept an application for social housing supports or emergency homeless accommodation, they must provide you with written reasons for their decision. If they refuse to, they may not be acting in line with the law and you may want to make a complaint, appeal their decision, or get legal advice.
More information:
If you would like to read more, you can find helpful resources on our ‘Helpful Resources’ page. Further, below are a few useful links to legislation and government guidance:
S.I. No. 84/2011 – Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011: S.I. No. 84/2011 – Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011.
S.I. No. 198/2011 – Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011: S.I. No. 198/2011 – Social Housing Allocation Regulations 2011.
Guidance for Local Authorities for Assisting Victims of Domestic Violence with Emergency and Long-Term Accommodation Needs: https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/guidance-for-housing-authorities-for-assisting-victims-of-domestic-violence-with-emergency-and-long-term-accommodation-needs
Environment, Community and Local Government Circular to Local Authorities Re: Social Housing Assessments Regulations 2011 – Clarification re. Regulations 5 & 6: https://mercylaw.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Extracted-from-Circular-Re.-Social-Housing-Assessments-Regulations-2011-Clarification-Re.-Regulations-5-6.pdf
[1] This amendment was inserted by Regulation 3 of the Social Housing Assessment (Amendment) Regulations 2016 SI 288/2016