Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 July 2018
539. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of voids in each county; the number that have been refurbished since January 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28649/18]
View answerThe Voids Programme, introduced in 2014 by my Department, provides additional support to local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-letting. The purpose of the Voids Programme is to ensure that vacant units are actively targeted, with a view to minimising the turnaround and re-let time of these units and return them to use in an energy efficient condition. Without substantial refurbishment, these social homes would have been left vacant and in turn would not be part of the active social housing stock.
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.
My Department does not hold information on the number of outstanding voids in each county, as this number changes according as the refurbishment of some units is completed and others become vacant. Statistics in relation to social housing stock are collated by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in their annual reports on Performance Indicators in Local Authorities. These statistics are set out by local authority and include the percentage of such dwellings that were vacant at the end of the year, with the last year for which the statistics are available being 2016. This report is available at the following link: http://noac.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2016-PI-Report.pdf.
The report on social housing activity for Quarter 1 of 2018, which includes information on the number of vacant units refurbished under the programme, is currently being compiled and will be published in the coming weeks.
My Department is continuing to engage on an ongoing basis with local authorities with a view to progressing measures to bring as many vacant and underutilised properties as possible back into use.
