Supplemental to Request 1912569 on 20/7/2020

Summary

The request sought average waiting list numbers and applicant breakdowns for general needs public sector housing in five specific Isle of Man areas over five years. The Department of Infrastructure disclosed that data for Arbory and Rushen showed no applications from their commissioners, while providing detailed tables for Castletown, Port Erin, Port St Mary, and the Department itself, noting a lack of household type breakdown for Castletown in 2018-19.

Key Facts

• Arbory and Rushen Commissioners had zero applications for general needs public sector housing from 2016/17 to the current year.
• Data was provided by local authority operator rather than specific geographic area because the Department does not hold area-specific totals.
• Household type breakdown data for Castletown Commissioners was unavailable for the 2018-19 period.
• The Department of Infrastructure operates social housing across the entire Island, including the Southern Region areas requested.
• The request was clarified to exclude sheltered housing and focus only on general needs public sector housing.

Data Disclosed

• 2016/17
• 2017/18
• 2018/19
• 2019/20
• 2020/21
• 42
• 25
• 22
• 15
• 64
• 73
• 67
• 80
• 111
• 15
• 22
• 24
• 26
• 11
• 14
• 13
• 12
• 2021-07-20
• 2021-08-16

Original Request

Further to request 1912569, please also provide the following information in relation to each of the housing areas already provided - Port Erin, Port St Mary, Rushen, Arbory & Castletown. 7. Average number of applicants on the waiting list of each of the respective areas, in each of the last five years and the current year to date. 8. In regard to point 7. above a breakdown of the nature of the applicant (without any specific, personal, or sensitive information) as per the eligible applicant conditions; i.e. (a) a single person who does not have dependent children; (b) a couple neither member of whom has a dependent child; (c) a single person who has a dependent child; (d) a couple either member of whom has a dependent child

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team/JH/PN Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 1912669 16 August 2021

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 20 July 2021 and which states:

"Further to request 1912569, please also provide the following information in relation to each of the housing areas already provided - Port Erin, Port St Mary, Rushen, Arbory & Castletown. 7. Average number of applicants on the waiting list of each of the respective areas, in each of the last five years and the current year to date. 8. In regard to point 7. above a breakdown of the nature of the applicant (without any specific, personal, or sensitive information) as per the eligible applicant conditions; i.e. (a) a single person who does not have dependent children; (b) a couple neither member of whom has a dependent child; (c) a single person who has a dependent child; (d) a couple either member of whom has a dependent child" You provided clarification that since you are interested in the application of the Public Sector Housing (General Needs) (Allocation) Policy that you require information only about general needs public sector housing in relation to points 7 to 8 and not about sheltered housing. It is also important to explain that the Department collects data about general needs public sector housing from each of the Island’s social housing providers, but does not break down this information to provide totals for the specific areas listed in this request. However, in order to be as helpful as possible, the figures requested have been broken down by local authority operator since most housing providers do operate in specific areas (for example, Castletown Commissioners only operate social housing within Castletown). On the other hand, the Department of Infrastructure operates across the entire Island, including several areas within the Southern Region. Response to your request
Based on the information held, the Department can confirm that Arbory Commissioners and Rushen Commissioners have not had any applications for general needs public sector housing from 2016/17 through to the current year to date,

although please note that the Department of Infrastructure operates social housing in both of these areas as well as other areas across the Southern Region. The information held by the Department allows it to share a breakdown of applicants on the Shared Waiting List for the Southern Region for Castletown Commissioners, the Department of Infrastructure, Port Erin Commissioners and Port St Mary Commissioners. This is further broken down by year (the figures are provided as at the end of each calendar year) and by household type. During 18-19 this data for Castletown Commissioners was not received. As such, whilst the Department was able to calculate the total number of applicants for Castletown Commissioners at that time on the Shared Waiting List, it is unable to provide a breakdown by household type for Castletown Commissioners for that year. The figures as requested and as held by the Department are provided in the table below: 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20 20-21 Castletown Single no children 20 16 8 17

Couple no children 5 0 3 6

Single with children 3 15

Couple with children 17 9 Data not provided by LA 1 4

Total 42 25 22 15 42

DOI Single no children 46 45 41 49 61

Couple no children 0 0 1 7 10

Single with children 16 26

Couple with children 18 28 25 8 14

Total 64 73 67 80 111

Port Erin Single no children 8 12 13 11 11

Couple no children 3 6 0 3 3

Single with children 9 9

Couple with children 4 4 11 3 3

Total 15 22 24 26 26

Port St Mary Single no children 6 9 8 6 6

Couple no children 1 0 0 1 1

Single with children 2 2

Couple with children 4 5 5 3 3

Total 11 14 13 12 12

Your right to request a review If you are unhappy with this response to your Freedom of Information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically to foi.doi@gov.im or by delivery/post to The FOI Co-ordinator, Department of Infrastructure, Sea Terminal Buildings, Douglas, IM1 2RF. An electronic version and paper version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at www.gov.im/foireview Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.
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