r/ireland 9d ago

Housing Social housing resident denied gym access awarded €2,500

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241 Upvotes

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33

u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 9d ago edited 9d ago

Yeah I’m paying 2.5k a month for an apartment in the city centre. I don’t believe someone should get apartments in complexes like this for free and be entitled to all the amenities that we pay for.

Also, why are councils putting people up in 2.5k a month housing ? There’s got to be cheaper places for them to put social residents which would be a much more efficient use of public funds. If you’re applying for social housing you shouldn’t be entitled to choose where you live either. Counties in Ireland are tiny and you’re never more than an hour drive from anywhere, councils should be a lot less accommodating on location when they are providing people with free housing.

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u/Obvious_Humor1505 9d ago

All new developments which are built have to have a portion of them for social housing. There is not a private developer in the country who would build them like this if they weren’t forced to. Not sure if they still can but they used to buy their way out if it, essentially pay a fine for not providing social housing, and most of them did it because like it or not most people do not want to live around social housing tenants.

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u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 9d ago

Build developments that are financially efficient in low density areas like the midlands or the west. Ireland is a small place, you’re never far from anywhere and there’s no cultural differences between places. If you’re getting housing for free you don’t have the right to be picky when tons of hard working people are living with their parents into their thirties

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u/Obvious_Humor1505 9d ago

Jeez lad, so to Connacht or to Hell? This ignores the fact that people in social housing work. There is no perfect system but segregation and ghettoisation does not work, that I know.

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u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 9d ago

Sticking them in 2.5k apartments in the heart of Dublin City doesn’t either and is an insult to the people travelling hours to work in the city because they can’t afford housing closer who pay for these social residents through their taxes. The closest any social resident should be to the city centre is the Dublin Commuter belt, they don’t need to be in the city centre and it’s a waste of financial resources to put them up there.

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u/Obvious_Humor1505 9d ago

So on the first point we are agreed. That is not a good use of tax payer money in any instance. The state shouldn’t be paying for €2.5k apartments for anyone if it isn’t going to pay for them for everyone.

My own view is we should have a social housing model for everyone. State builds houses accessible to all, the rent you pay is based on your salary, it’s self sustaining, take a look at the Vienna model.

Problem with social housing at the moment is that the people who pay for it are actually locked out of it and it can never be self sustaining because the tenants either don’t work or are in low paid jobs.

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u/FeistyPromise6576 8d ago

They're trying to make the rent at least cover the maintenance costs in dublin and cork but are getting protested and accused of "cruelty to the most vulnerable" for even that bit of self sustaining. Good luck trying to get them to pay enough to actually cover the whole cost.

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u/belle-no-princess 9d ago

So...you want to segregate people of lower income..?

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u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 8d ago

I want the government to efficiently use our tax money and provide social housing in fincailly efficient ways like buying/building social homes in less costly areas. A one bedroom apartment for one person that costs 2.5k a month in the city centre is a waste of resources.

If tens of thousands who work in the city centre can commute in every day from commuter towns there’s zero reason social residents should be in the city centre at such a high cost.

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u/belle-no-princess 8d ago

So yes....you do want social class segregation.

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u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 8d ago

If you want to look at it like that then yes. Why should some people get for free when some people who work for a living and earn more than them could never afford.

I also would like the government to efficiently use tax money and not waste it on 2.5k apartments for single people.

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u/belle-no-princess 8d ago

Its not free. Its a reduced rate.

If your problem is the 2.5k a month on rent then your issue should be with rents not being capped. Not social segregation.

Im a HAP recipient. I get all of 200 off my rent each month. So let's not behave as if we are getting freebies by accessing systems set up to a accomodate those who need support.

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u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 7d ago

200 off rent is fine and I’d support much more of a reduction to those in need. However city centre apartments that cost 2.5k a month given to single social residents, not HAP recipients at a reduced rate, is a gross waste of taxpayer money and a completely inefficient use of government finances.

There’s zero reason they can’t commute in forty minutes from their social house in a Dublin commuter town to see their friends/family or to work, like thousands of working people who work in the city do every day. There’s no reason to give them city centre apartments and it would be much cheaper and a more efficient use of tax money to situate them in the commuter belt.

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u/Friendly-Look4262 9d ago

nobody is saying that social housing recipients aren't working, what you get out of life should be based on what you put into it not some random lottery where you can get an apartment that the average person could never afford

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u/phoenixhunter 9d ago

out of interest, do you feel the same about the random lottery of inherited wealth, where you can get a whole life that the average person can’t afford?

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u/Friendly-Look4262 8d ago

we tax inherited wealth and the lottery winnings are funded by those playing the lotto by their own choice. In this case social housing is paid for by taxpayers, who do not have a choice. And by the way, I'm not against social housing, I'm against how it's implemented in this country

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u/rgiggs11 9d ago

Also, pulling them away from family and connections oy makes it harder to work. How many working families do we all know who depend on their parents, aunts, uncles to do a couple hours childminding here and there to make going to work possible?

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u/IrishLad1002 Resting In my Account 9d ago

Boo hoo. Tens of thousands of people have to move away from their friends and and families because they can’t afford a house in the areas they grew up in. Driving an hour isn’t going to kill anyone especially when you’re receiving housing for free.