Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 September 2018
8. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government why only 529 properties out of 3,967 offered to the Housing Agency for purchase have been acquired to date; and the reason the vacant homes strategy published over the summer contains no targets or new funding allocations to ensure the maximum return to the housing stock of vacant homes across the State. [39020/18]
View answerRebuilding Ireland promised the delivery of 1,600 homes over a number of years through the Housing Agency's €70 million fund. It was a good initiative which Sinn Féin welcomed at the time, although we felt it was underfunded. Of the 3,967 properties offered to the Housing Agency for purchase under this fund, only 529 have actually been formally purchased which is a success rate of 15%. Is the Minister satisfied that the 3,438 homes that have not been purchased or will not be purchased were not available or appropriate for social housing? Can he confirm he has looked at the list to satisfy himself of that?
I thank the Deputy for his question. Under Rebuilding Ireland, the Housing Agency is actively engaged with banks and investment companies on its acquisitions programme. An acquisitions fund of €70 million, which is a revolving fund, has been established with the objective of acquiring some 1,600 units over the period to 2020 for social housing use. The agency also acquires units through other funds made available to it.
As of 31 August 2018, the agency had bids accepted on over 900 homes for acquisition. Contracts have been signed for 552 homes and 529 of these purchases have closed. The process of selling properties on to AHBs is underway, with 181 onward sales completed and other homes under caretaker lease arrangements with AHBs which allows upgrade works and tenanting to proceed in advance of the onward sale.
Properties offered to the Housing Agency may be rejected for a number of reasons such as the guide price being above unit cost limits, the property being a non-residential unit such as a holiday home or student accommodation, a lack of demand for a property in a particular area or an oversupply of social housing in an area already. Even when a property is considered appropriate by a local authority, a bid may still not go through because the property may be withdrawn or the bid not accepted.
The national vacant housing reuse strategy, which I published in July, acts as an overarching roadmap and a focal point for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives right across Government to ensure that we are utilising our existing housing stock to the fullest extent possible. The aim is to return as many recoverable vacant properties as possible back to viable use and to increase the supply of sustainable housing while also revitalising the vibrancy of local communities. Several initiatives are already targeted at bringing vacant homes back into use. More recently available data and survey work suggests a much reduced vacancy level from that recorded in Census 2016. Nevertheless, work under these various initiatives will continue, in co-operation with local authorities.
I thank the Minister for his reply. There are two issues. One is the length of time it is taking to purchase these properties and get them tenanted and the other is the very significant number of properties for which bids have not been made. I did not table this question in order for the Minister to outline how the scheme works. I understand that very well and the Minister has just repeated all of the details he gave me last week in response to a parliamentary question I submitted. My question is a genuine one. There were 3,028 properties for which bids were not placed. I understand the generality of why that might be the case. I am asking whether the Minister is personally satisfied that none of those 3,028 units were appropriate or suitable for social housing. I am asking that direct question because these are turn-key properties that we know could be used for housing first clients or to get families out of emergency accommodation and a level of additional scrutiny from the Minister's office could be helpful in this regard.
I thank the Deputy for his follow-up question. I do not inspect the properties myself. I have engaged with the Housing Agency and with my officials who have been in constant engagement on this issue and am satisfied, as Minister, that everything that can be done is being done. We must recognise that this is an acquisition programme over a three year period with the aim of securing 1,600 homes. As I said earlier, bids have been accepted on more than 900 homes to date, so a huge amount of work has already been done.
I will give the Deputy a more detailed breakdown of what has happened with regard to the 3,967 homes that were offered initially. The local authorities themselves were interested in 2,742 of those homes. This figure was reduced to 2,163 when some of the homes were withdrawn by the vendors. The Housing Agency placed bids on 1,492 homes and to date, 939 of those bids have been accepted. Contracts have been signed for 552 of those bids. A final decision is awaited on a further 97 and an additional 194 were withdrawn by the vendor. When one looks at the amount of properties that were available to the Housing Agency and in which the local authorities were actually interested, the percentage secured is actually very large. A huge amount of work has been done and that work continues in terms of bidding and the negotiations that are already underway. It is a fantastic programme because it enables us to acquire homes that have already been built and to get them into use for social housing, with the co-operation of the AHBs. That work is happening.
I understand that this process takes time and that multiple agencies are involved. However, with a 15% purchase rate to date and a 30% bid rate, it seems the Department will not meet the target of 1,600 homes by 2020, although I hope it does. If Sinn Féin can assist in any way with any local authority, we will do so. Where local authorities are not expressing an interest, is the Minister satisfied that it is for legitimate reasons? Some might not express an interest for very good reasons like the property being in the wrong location but some might use spurious arguments about an already existing oversupply of social housing which may not be valid. All I am asking is that the Minister, if he has not already done so, ensures that where properties are not being pursued, it is for the right and appropriate reasons. Every one of these properties that is purchased, as the Minister knows, can potentially get a family or a single person out of emergency accommodation. In that context, greater urgency is required in ensuring that the Department meets, if not exceeds, the target of 1,600 by 2020.
We are going to meet the target of 1,600 by 2020. I am satisfied with the work that the local authorities have done in terms of making sure that these are properties that they actually want and need and that we can use, bearing in mind the criteria that must be met for social housing. If one looks at the actual offers made, the rate is almost 50%. In terms of the bids that were made by the Housing Agency, after it was satisfied that such bids should be made, 939 were successful out of 1,492, which is somewhere in the region of 70% to 75%. These bids have been accepted by the other side and we are moving to sign contracts as quickly as we can.
