Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
1747. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of long-term social housing voids returned to stock by each local authority in each of the years 2014 to 2017 and to date in 2018; and the amount and source of the funding allocated to each local authority in each year to restore these units to use, in tabular form. [1095/18]
View answer1748. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if his Department distinguishes between social housing units that are vacant for a short period of time between tenants and those vacant for longer periods of time for the purposes of managing its social housing stock; and if so, the way in which this distinction is made. [1096/18]
View answer1749. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the details of the average period that units refurbished under the local authority voids programme in each of the years 2014 to 2016 were vacant prior to their refurbishment, in tabular form. [1097/18]
View answer1750. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of social housing units that received energy efficiency upgrades under the local authority voids programme in each of the years since 2014. [1098/18]
View answer1751. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if there is a minimum period that a social housing unit must be vacant before it is eligible for funding under the local authority voids programme since 2014. [1099/18]
View answer1752. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the details of the types of refurbishment works that are typically funded under the local authority voids programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1100/18]
View answer1753. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the function of the local authorities void programme, as distinct from local authorities own refurbishment works and if he will account for the way in which his Department defines additional support over and above which local authorities provide. [1101/18]
View answer1754. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the eligibility criteria and application guidelines that are provided to local authorities seeking to make applications to the local authorities void programme. [1102/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1747 to 1754, inclusive, together.
Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966 provides that the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including the implementation of planned maintenance programmes and carrying out of responsive repairs and pre-letting repairs, is a matter for each individual local authority.
The Voids Programme, introduced in 2014 by my Department, provides additional support to local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-letting. The maximum funding provided for each unit under this programme is €30,000. In addition, the Derelicts Programme provides funding to remediate more seriously derelict social houses. There is also another smaller 2 into 1 programme, which focuses on converting vacant old bedsit type of accommodation into one bedroom units.
Vacant social houses, which are categorised as voids, need far greater repairs that normal re-letting works to bring them to a suitable letting condition. They are vacant pending this work. The key objectives of the programme are to minimise the turnaround and re-let time of vacant units and return them to use in an energy efficient condition.
Retrofitting is undertaken on properties selected by local authorities on the basis of unit cost, the extent of local housing need and the age/condition of the property. The programme focuses on retrofitting of the fabric of the dwelling (insulation of walls/roofs, window/door replacement, heating system improvement etc.). During the period, 7,160 units had energy efficiency works recouped [1,850, 2,114, 1,770 and 1,426 for 2014 to 2017, respectively]. The remainder may have had works carried out previously under a separate Energy Efficiency programme.
Circulars issued to each local authority outlining the scheme and the information required for those authorities seeking to apply for funding under the scheme. No distinction is made between the length of time a property is vacant before being eligible for funding under the programmes and my Department does not collect data on the average period that a unit was vacant prior to their refurbishment. The scale of the pre-letting works required is a more relevant factor.
Given that amalgamated data across the 3 programmes is provided under Rebuilding Ireland, for consistency purposes, the combined voids data is presented below.
Voids Data 2014 to 2017: incorporating Voids, Derelicts and 2 into 1 Programmes
|
|
Units Returned in 2014 |
Funding 2014 |
Units Returned in 2015 |
Funding 2015 |
Units Returned in 2016 |
Funding 2016 |
Units Returned in 2017 |
Funding 2017 |
Units Returned 2014 - 2017 |
Funding 2014 - 2017 |
|
Carlow |
42 |
€325,111 |
28 |
€300,650 |
8 |
€69,450 |
8 |
€91,750 |
86 |
€786,961 |
|
Cavan |
23 |
€349,137 |
28 |
€307,018 |
32 |
€307,530 |
31 |
€303,112 |
114 |
€1,266,797 |
|
Clare |
65 |
€995,831 |
96 |
€1,472,533 |
79 |
€1,329,700 |
47 |
€966,203 |
287 |
€4,764,267 |
|
Cork City |
212 |
€2,872,028 |
281 |
€4,522,819 |
263 |
€6,812,333 |
81 |
€1,485,357 |
837 |
€15,692,538 |
|
Cork County |
155 |
€1,539,363 |
199 |
€2,091,578 |
98 |
€1,270,488 |
48 |
€1,130,977 |
500 |
€6,032,406 |
|
Donegal |
167 |
€919,797 |
146 |
€1,003,576 |
89 |
€986,690 |
168 |
€1,866,898 |
570 |
€4,776,961 |
|
Dublin City |
499 |
€6,163,465 |
808 |
€10,229,838 |
575 |
€8,683,848 |
543 |
€8,520,549 |
2425 |
€33,597,700 |
|
Fingal |
163 |
€1,938,780 |
139 |
€1,624,632 |
147 |
€1,725,774 |
121 |
€1,329,300 |
570 |
€6,618,486 |
|
South Dublin |
87 |
€627,407 |
27 |
€216,838 |
81 |
€703,736 |
87 |
€718,446 |
282 |
€2,266,427 |
|
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown |
5 |
€89,896 |
24 |
€262,768 |
19 |
€183,092 |
31 |
€283,531 |
79 |
€819,287 |
|
Galway City |
26 |
€474,050 |
25 |
€222,025 |
29 |
€346,650 |
11 |
€124,150 |
91 |
€1,166,875 |
|
Galway County |
76 |
€958,263 |
59 |
€705,347 |
37 |
€472,552 |
37 |
€401,159 |
209 |
€2,537,321 |
|
Kerry |
79 |
€718,938 |
127 |
€884,736 |
90 |
€917,549 |
90 |
€1,101,143 |
386 |
€3,622,366 |
|
Kildare |
49 |
€503,463 |
20 |
€359,808 |
24 |
€485,130 |
8 |
€205,960 |
101 |
€1,554,361 |
|
Kilkenny |
25 |
€484,430 |
23 |
€381,639 |
14 |
€351,278 |
16 |
€307,749 |
78 |
€1,525,096 |
|
Laois |
43 |
€257,014 |
12 |
€61,228 |
12 |
€97,053 |
4 |
€33,170 |
71 |
€448,464 |
|
Leitrim |
15 |
€229,072 |
9 |
€177,473 |
51 |
€712,404 |
0 |
€0 |
75 |
€1,118,949 |
|
Limerick |
94 |
€915,969 |
52 |
€500,689 |
18 |
€384,250 |
13 |
€215,520 |
177 |
€2,016,427 |
|
Longford |
16 |
€313,250 |
22 |
€426,535 |
23 |
€506,705 |
0 |
€0 |
61 |
€1,246,490 |
|
Louth |
14 |
€113,620 |
21 |
€292,279 |
8 |
€91,523 |
7 |
€83,518 |
50 |
€580,940 |
|
Mayo |
79 |
€464,508 |
174 |
€292,100 |
25 |
€233,089 |
22 |
€261,986 |
300 |
€1,251,682 |
|
Meath |
59 |
€1,037,501 |
54 |
€855,565 |
76 |
€1,435,700 |
52 |
€768,005 |
241 |
€4,096,771 |
|
Monaghan |
21 |
€92,751 |
13 |
€100,502 |
47 |
€667,944 |
38 |
€505,254 |
119 |
€1,366,451 |
|
Offaly |
30 |
€514,000 |
55 |
€551,532 |
53 |
€846,198 |
7 |
€107,792 |
145 |
€2,019,522 |
|
Roscommon |
34 |
€224,028 |
36 |
€258,773 |
80 |
€808,612 |
3 |
€44,324 |
153 |
€1,335,737 |
|
Sligo |
29 |
€311,648 |
39 |
€439,924 |
68 |
€1,097,909 |
40 |
€909,395 |
176 |
€2,758,876 |
|
Tipperary |
86 |
€935,801 |
115 |
€1,299,180 |
102 |
€1,204,318 |
107 |
€1,324,604 |
410 |
€4,763,904 |
|
Waterford |
32 |
€605,428 |
56 |
€488,724 |
90 |
€1,135,973 |
52 |
€574,309 |
230 |
€2,804,434 |
|
Westmeath |
56 |
€369,518 |
74 |
€650,813 |
43 |
€436,062 |
40 |
€329,113 |
213 |
€1,785,506 |
|
Wexford |
20 |
€316,307 |
24 |
€294,811 |
17 |
€167,007 |
34 |
€428,015 |
95 |
€1,206,140 |
|
Wicklow |
32 |
€650,204 |
43 |
€857,499 |
10 |
€245,887 |
11 |
€276,778 |
96 |
€2,030,368 |
|
|
2,333 |
€26,310,579 |
2,829 |
€32,133,429 |
2,308 |
€34,716,434 |
1,757 |
€24,698,067 |
9,227 |
€117,858,510 |
