Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 1st April, 2011.

I, PHIL HOGAN, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 3 , 20 and 32 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 (No. 22 of 2009), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Social Housing Assessment (Amendment) Regulations 2011.

2. These Regulations come into operation on 1 April 2011.

3. The Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 ( S.I. No. 84 of 2011 ) are amended:

(a) by substituting for Regulation 16 the following:

"16. Subject to Regulation 9(3), a household shall be deemed to be entered on a housing authority's record of qualified households on the date that the housing authority of application determines that the household is qualified for social housing support, except that-

(a) where the housing authority of application does not seek additional information from the household under Regulation 11 and makes its determination that the household is qualified for social housing support on a date that is subsequent to the expiry of the period of 12 weeks from the date of receipt of a properly completed application form, the household shall be deemed to be entered on an authority's record of qualified households on the date of expiry of the said period of 12 weeks, or

(b) where the housing authority of application seeks additional information from the household under Regulation 11 and makes its determination that the household is qualified for social housing support on a date that is subsequent to the expiry of the period of 6 weeks from the date of receipt of such additional information, the household shall be deemed to be entered on an authority's record of qualified households on the date of expiry of the said period of 6 weeks.";

(b) in Regulation 19 by-

(i) substituting "€35,000" for "€30,000" in paragraph (1), and

(ii) substituting for the Table the following:

"TABLE

";

(c) in Regulation 20, by substituting "€30,000" for "€25,000" in paragraph (1); and

(d) in Regulation 21, by substituting "€25,000" for "€20,000" in paragraph (1).

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

29 March 2011.

PHIL HOGAN,

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations amend the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 to-

-� increase by €5,000 each the 3 bands of maximum income limits for eligibility for social housing support across the country (see paragraph (1) of Regulations 19, 20 and 21 of the main Regulations)

-� include the 4 Wicklow housing authorities in the highest maximum income band (this corrects an error in the Table to Regulation 19 of the main Regulations)

-� clarify the meaning of Regulation 16 of the main Regulations.

The amending Regulations come into force on the same day as the main Regulations, that is 1 April 2011.