THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE who need social housing may have been taken off the Dublin City Council housing list for not replying to a questionnaire.

Some 3,655 applications have been removed from the Dublin City Council housing list following the recent housing needs assessment.

The assessment is carried out every four or five years and councillors say they always see a large number of people taken off the list at that time.

Speaking about the drop from almost 22,400 in January 2016 to under 19,000, Dublin City Councillor Noeleen Reilly said, “In many cases this is simply because they did not receive the letters sent out by Dublin City Council.

Dublin City Council do send out the form a number of times but if you have changed address which many have recently then you may not get it.

The questionnaire was sent last July and people who didn’t respond were sent a warning letter before receiving a letter telling them they were off the housing list.

The council said people can have their applications re-examined if they contact the council before 31 March and can prove they still qualify for social housing.

However Reilly added, “Many of the 3,655 who have been taken off the list are probably not even aware.

I think it is very cruel for people who may be on the list for long periods of time to be simply taken off it and have to start from scratch.

“It really isn’t fair and unfortunately I have dealt with many families who this happened in the past who would be housed by Dublin City Council by now had they not been taken off the list.”