On rare occasions, if you are a Full Duty Applicant and have specialist needs which mean that a suitable permanent home cannot be found for your household in the current stock available, the Housing Executive can consider asking a Housing Association to purchase a home for you to occupy.  This is knows as the Special Acquisition of Dwellings.

• Who can apply for this scheme?
• How likely is it that a property will be purchased through the scheme?

Who can apply for this scheme?

You can only apply for this scheme if you are a Full Duty Applicant and you, or a member of your household, have been assessed as having complex or specialist needs by the Housing Executive.

The scheme will only be considered if you meet the criteria outlined above and

• your household is too large to be accommodated within the current housing stock available, or
• your needs require that particular adaptations are carried out to a property and no suitable property can be found for adaptation, or
• you have been awarded intimidation points and your household has been identified as having complex or specialist needs and a suitable permanent and safe rehousing option cannot be sourced within your areas of choice or within a reasonable timescale

How likely is it that a property will be purchased through the scheme?

The Housing Executive must investigate and discount all other suitable, permanent housing options for your household before deciding to make a purchase through this scheme.  The other options which the Housing Executive must look at are:

• asking all other social landlords in your areas of choice to consider adapting any suitable properties within their stock to meet your household’s needs;
• encouraging you to consider widening or changing your areas of choice;
• considering converting 2 neighbouring properties into one property which will be large enough to accommodate your household;
• investigating any planned new social housing builds in the area and adapting these at planning stage to provide suitable accommodation for your household.

If none of these options are suitable, the Housing Executive can make a decision to purchase a property.  If you have been on the waiting list for a long time and have either complex or specialist needs, get advice on the Special Acquisition of Dwellings scheme from Housing Rights Service or another organisation.

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