Local Authority Housing.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 July 2008

Thursday, 10 July 2008

Questions (879, 880, 881, 882)

Joan Burton

Question:

877 Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the procedures in place to ensure that social or affordable housing acquired by local authorities complies fully with the relevant building, environmental, fire and safety regulations; if in the case of affordable housing a letter of assurance is issued by the relevant local authority to the purchaser indicating that the property is fully compliant with all relevant regulations; if such letters are not currently issued, if he will instruct all local authorities to do so as a matter of course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28292/08]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy Michael Finneran)

The Building Regulations, introduced with effect from 1 June 1992, apply to all new buildings and to existing buildings which have been the subject of a material alteration. Accordingly, in common with all developments, social and affordable housing projects must meet the relevant requirements of the Building Regulations.

The Building Control Acts 1990 to 2007 assign primary responsibility for compliance with the Building Regulations to the builders and owners of buildings. Responsibility for enforcement of the Regulations is vested in Building Control Authorities who are empowered to carry out inspections of buildings and initiate enforcement action, where appropriate. In addition, local authorities have been advised to take the necessary steps to monitor construction of social and affordable housing acquired under Part V agreements to ensure appropriate standards and the requirements of the Building Regulations are met.

Joan Burton

Question:

878 Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will confirm that the acquisition of all affordable housing units by local authorities takes place at the prevailing market rate, that is taking into account the very significant price falls since mid 2007; if his attention has been drawn to instances where housing units have been acquired at anything more than their market value at the point of purchase; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28293/08]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy Michael Finneran)

The costs incurred in acquiring affordable homes, with a view to their onward sale to affordable purchasers, are dependant on the manner of acquisition.

In the case of units acquired under Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 — 2006, the acquisition costs are calculated in accordance with the relevant legislation. In summary, they are based on the sum of the site costs at existing use value, actual construction costs as agreed between the local authority and the developer, plus reasonable profit.

In the case of units provided under the 1999 Affordable Housing Scheme and the Affordable Housing Initiative, the acquisition costs are not related to market value as these are generally constructed on land owned by or given to the local authority. Additionally, in the case of certain 1999 Scheme units purchased directly from developers or in the direct procurement exercise operated by the Affordable Homes Partnership, substantial discounts on the prevailing market rate are achievable because multiple purchases are made.

I am not aware of instances where affordable housing units have been acquired at anything more than their market value at the point of purchase.

Joan Burton

Question:

879 Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the sum of money allocated by each local authority for each of the past six years, including to date in 2008, for housing assistance grants for disabled persons in respect of privately owned houses; if his attention has been drawn to the demand for these grants; and that the award of such grants often means that the recipient can stay in their own home rather than needing to be permanently taken into care; if he proposes to increase these allocations for 2008 and subsequent years; if he will introduce measures to speed up the processing of grant applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28303/08]

Paul Kehoe

Question:

917 Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount of funding made available to each local authority for the purpose of disabled persons and essential repairs grants in the years 2000 to 2007; and the level of funding allocated during 2008 to date under the revised grant scheme. [28820/08]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy Michael Finneran)

I propose to take Question Nos. 879 and 917 together.

The allocations to each local authority towards the operation of the Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grants schemes from 2000 to 2007, together with the level of combined allocations for 2008 in respect of these schemes and the revised suite of housing adaptation grant schemes introduced on 1 November 2007, are set out in the table.

The allocations made by my Department to local authorities for the operation of the schemes represent not capital grants, but the total amount which authorities are authorised to spend on the schemes, including from the resources of individual authorities, in the year in which the allocation is made. It is a matter for local authorities to decide on the specific level of funding to be directed towards each of the schemes, from within the combined allocation notified to them by my Department, and to manage the operation of the schemes in their area from within this allocation.

My Department recognises the role of the Housing Adaptation Grants in facilitating the continued independent occupancy of their own homes by older people or those with a disability. The revised schemes are designed to ensure that available funding is targeted at lower income households and those whose accommodation needs are greatest. In the context of the revised schemes, my Department introduced a number of features to assist local authorities in streamlining the associated administration processes. These include the introduction of panels of contractors, in order to assist applicants in obtaining quotations in a timely manner, and lists of standard costs for different types of works commonly applied for.

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
	€	€	€	€	€	€	€	€	€
Carlow County Council	275,000	429,167	534,190	306,480	321,503	480,767	722,032	1,174,211	1,191,450
Cavan County Council	739,775	1,800,262	3,134,401	3,009,651	1,746,542	1,555,978	1,942,193	1,130,966	1,150,890
Clare County Council	582,742	2,008,649	966,090	731,362	1,216,097	1,645,704	1,457,156	1,286,340	1,308,060
Cork County Council Nth	830,435	967,293	2,920,412	2,289,959	831,794	1,685,196	1,960,493	1,932,606	1,962,090
Cork County Council Sth	1,255,906	2,049,901	2,127,482	1,395,000	1,159,501	2,026,231	2,399,426	2,509,769	2,545,140
Cork County Council West	700,531	735,880	1,870,292	2,961,532	995,000	819,518	1,139,106	991,409	1,008,930
Donegal County Council	2,148,618	3,447,990	5,967,245	5,467,851	2,542,510	2,828,674	3,463,420	4,186,047	4,248,660
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council	691,623	965,025	1,193,655	1,761,429	1,603,630	1,424,612	1,594,382	1,867,940	1,896,180
Fingal County Council	504,016	1,126,625	1,636,315	819,938	1,278,527	1,202,990	1,328,899	1,554,110	1,576,770
Galway County Council	1,893,813	2,598,438	3,440,811	1,870,772	2,571,217	1,978,441	1,934,428	1,795,118	1,820,130
Kerry County Council	658,123	1,250,683	1,887,755	1,325,438	965,372	1,772,913	2,415,804	2,551,761	2,590,770
Kildare County Council	1,043,996	1,269,195	1,457,812	1,569,670	1,092,053	1,429,549	1,284,466	1,619,225	1,642,680
Kilkenny County Council	409,940	794,081	758,700	572,408	664,900	613,612	473,823	801,467	816,270
Laois County Council	1,193,767	1,108,074	2,130,688	814,707	2,632,074	1,983,919	2,323,185	2,601,255	1,678,000
Leitrim County Council	1,055,764	1,614,514	1,814,445	1,991,002	2,042,035	1,297,009	1,282,782	1,545,126	1,571,700
Limerick County Council	464,843	861,544	941,945	928,008	1,034,000	1,140,001	1,107,668	1,528,970	1,551,420
Longford County Council	873,672	1,252,730	1,389,724	1,086,400	704,982	619,533	724,153	628,049	638,820
Louth County Council	360,945	633,159	825,650	576,435	725,138	1,478,965	2,663,893	1,789,877	1,815,060
Mayo County Council	874,844	1,413,669	1,258,397	1,883,178	1,530,423	1,440,928	1,732,128	2,446,257	2,484,300
Meath County Council	2,361,903	2,695,044	3,086,120	1,905,703	1,046,095	1,748,319	2,111,207	2,380,019	2,418,390
Monaghan County Council	521,451	873,609	1,542,102	1,646,121	1,358,451	1,318,960	1,630,509	1,880,169	1,911,390
North Tipperary County Council	532,846	1,092,326	1,665,195	866,020	756,447	1,266,677	1,592,487	1,547,594	1,571,700
Offaly County Council	307,352	504,000	462,903	788,979	641,940	1,383,403	1,234,792	1,292,903	1,292,910

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
	€	€	€	€	€	€	€	€	€
Roscommon County Council	759,936	1,070,881	1,880,616	1,719,326	1,634,914	1,764,470	1,447,339	1,652,933	1,678,170
Sligo County Council	459,314	458,605	1,111,667	620,605	241,449	284,566	225,712	484,371	491,790
South Dublin County Council	1,373,170	2,468,597	2,011,716	2,657,547	2,396,871	3,687,764	2,729,715	3,933,500	3,990,090
South Tipperary County Council	770,524	1,097,044	2,074,825	972,255	1,981,521	1,537,123	1,690,228	1,323,593	1,343,550
Waterford County Council	363,465	752,427	1,004,916	934,760	1,368,181	994,021	1,616,761	1,497,584	1,500,000
Westmeath County Council	347,089	755,000	822,127	1,274,173	1,283,268	994,142	1,145,690	1,437,482	1,460,160
Wexford County Council	297,528	788,698	1,148,182	991,071	836,792	810,590	1,178,485	2,010,858	2,043,210
Wicklow County Council	953,643	926,846	1,746,354	1,479,289	1,604,060	1,566,730	1,612,637	1,063,649	1,079,910
Cork City Council	486,851	925,348	1,623,281	834,072	1,350,460	759,801	1,073,047	1,827,539	1,855,620
Dublin City Council	5,587,066	7,944,552	9,726,039	13,030,282	10,880,377	13,053,836	11,438,899	12,464,277	12,639,510
Galway City Council	393,452	675,981	704,093	965,497	1,183,716	662,321	781,315	1,031,777	1,049,490
Limerick City Council	165,437	483,988	640,259	663,313	634,880	317,776	859,312	702,602	714,870
Waterford City Council	376,025	515,743	800,729	546,000	401,031	457,778	479,648	440,937	451,230
Sligo Borough Council	193,894	355,709	360,403	484,593	115,711	175,330	252,166	408,444	415,740
Wexford Borough Council	0	2,271	30,020	6,637	0	0
Bray Town Council	0	0	0	36,479	26,074	0
TOTAL	32,809,299	50,713,544	68,697,556	63,783,942	55,399,536	60,208,147	65,049,386	71,320,734	71,405,050