Candidate takes a long time over housing fund (7)
I believe the answer is:
nominee
'candidate' is the definition.
(I know that candidate can be written as nominee)
'a long time over housing fund' is the wordplay.
'a long time' becomes 'eon' (eon is a kind of long time).
'over' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'housing' is an insertion indicator.
'fund' becomes 'mine' (both can mean a stock or supply).
'eon' backwards is 'noe'.
'noe' enclosing 'mine' is 'NOMINEE'.
'takes' is the link.
(Other definitions for nominee that I've seen before include "Candidate for office" , "One suggested (for post)" , "Person put up for a post" , "he may shield one" , "One up for a job" .)