Query regarding rentals and Public Sector Housing

Summary

The requester asked for the number of people waiting for public sector housing and private rentals broken down by constituency. The Department of Infrastructure provided public sector waiting list figures by housing provider as of April 2024 but refused to provide private rental data or constituency breakdowns.

Key Facts

• The authority does not hold data on the number of individuals seeking private rentals.
• The authority cannot derive a constituency breakdown from the existing housing provider data.
• Public sector housing waiting list figures were provided as of the end of April 2024.
• The total number of people on the public sector housing waiting list is 902.
• The waiting list is split between 735 general applicants and 201 sheltered housing applicants.

Data Disclosed

• 2024-07-08
• 2024-07-10
• April 2024
• 902
• 735
• 201
• 17
• 50
• 143
• 232
• 81
• 78
• 27
• 25
• 82
• 14
• 18
• 34
• 43
• 58
• 3962953

Exemptions Cited

• FOIA section (8)(3)(a) - Public authority not required to create or derive information

Original Request

Please can you tell me how many people are currently waiting to rent Public Sector Housing, and how many are currently seeking rentals, broken-down by constituency, privately?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Appendix 1:

Housing Provider List total end of April 2024 Braddan Parish Commissioners 17 Castletown Commissioners 50 Department of Infrastructure 143 Douglas City Council 232 Onchan District Commissioners 81 Peel Town Commissioners 78 Port Erin Commissioners 27 Port St Mary Commissioners 25 Ramsey Town Commissioners 82 Sheltered housing providers Cooil Roi (Garff Commissioners) 14 Douglas City Council- Sheltered 18 Onchan District Commissioners- Sheltered 34 Peel & Western District Housing Committee 43 Ramsey & Northern District Housing Committee 58 Southern Sheltered Housing Board 34 TOTAL - General 735 TOTAL - Sheltered 201 TOTAL 902

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

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

Our ref: 3962953 9 July 2024

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 8 July 2024, which states:

"Please can you tell me how many people are currently waiting to rent Public Sector Housing, and how many are currently seeking rentals, broken-down by constituency, privately?"

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested: • The number of individuals who are that are seeking rentals privately.

Under FOIA section (8)(3)(a), a public authority is not required to create or derive information from the information that is holds. In this case you requested for:
• The information to be ‘broken-down by constituency’.

Appendix 1 contains the figures in relation to the Public Sector Housing waiting list as of April 2024 which is broken down by housing provider (Local Authorities/ Department/ Committees).

Please quote the reference number 3962953 in any future communications.

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 or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. 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.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.