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Voluntary Housing Sector

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 December 2013

Thursday, 12 December 2013

Questions (144, 145)

Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

144. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 27 of 5 December 2013, if his Department has a means of measuring engagement of approved housing bodies with the newly developed voluntary regulation code, Building for the Future, published on 15 July 2013. [53513/13]

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Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

145. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 27 of 5 December 2013, if the proposed statutory regulation of approved housing bodies will include oversight of service level agreements between approved housing bodies and local authorities in respect of the management and maintenance of social housing units which may be either leased or owned by the relevant authority. [53514/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 145 together.

The Government’s Housing Policy Statement of June 2011 acknowledged the capacity and track record of the voluntary and cooperative housing sector and placed approved housing bodies (AHBs) at the heart of its vision for social housing provision. In July 2013 Building for the Future, a voluntary regulation code, was published as an important step towards a statutory regulatory framework. My Department, together with the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency and the Housing Finance Agency, is now working with the sector to develop a set of financial criteria to further enhance its capacity to contribute to housing provision.

Development of the code was marked by close engagement with representatives of the sector. To date, a total of 76 organisations have signed up to the code, including 5 of the larger housing bodies. The voluntary regulation code is available on my Department’s website www.environ.ie.

Details on the content of the proposed statutory regulation are not, at this stage, developed. However, the implementation of the voluntary regulatory code in the coming months will be a valuable source of information as to the scope and final content of the proposed statutory regulation to be developed by 2016. In addition, there will be widespread consultation, in the normal way, during the development of the new legal framework.

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