Third of applicants on housing list wait over five years

One-third of applicants on Dublin City Council’s housing list have been waiting more than five years, new figures have shown.

Some 16,600 families and individuals are currently on the waiting list, figures released by the council to Labour TD Tommy Broughan have shown.

In addition there are 7,538 applicants on the council’s housing transfer list.

Mr Broughan described as “shocking” the length of time that some of the applicants had been waiting for houses.

The figures show that 32 per cent (5,357) of applicants have been on the list for more than five years.

This includes 2,544 waiting more than seven years for housing.

The size and duration of the list were “deeply damaging to the credibility” of the council management, he said.