Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 November 2020
397. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if approved housing bodies have the authority to decide if they will house tenants sent to them from the local authority social housing waiting lists following an interview with the perspective tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36982/20]
View answer399. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the criteria used by approved housing bodies to allocate housing units in developments over which they operate which are not available to the local authority in their area for housing tenants from the social housing waiting lists; if these units are subject to any control or oversight by his Department in terms of rents levied or tenancy agreements entered into; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36984/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 397 and 399 together.
Households wishing to obtain social housing support from a local authority or an approved housing body must first apply to the relevant local authority for a social housing assessment. Where the household is deemed qualified for support it is placed on the housing authority’s waiting list, and offers of suitable accommodation are made in accordance with the authority’s allocation scheme as they arise.
The allocation scheme is made by the elected members under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and in compliance with Social Housing Allocation Regulations made thereunder, and specifies, among other things, the manner of, and the order of priority for, the allocation of dwellings to households on the housing and transfer lists. Under section 22, an allocation scheme shall apply to dwellings owned or under the control of a local authority, as well as dwellings provided by approved housing bodies (AHBs) with Exchequer funding.
Where a vacancy arises in a dwelling owned by an AHB, the relevant local authority may nominate suitable households from its housing or transfer list to that body, having regard to the order of priority set out in its allocation scheme.
Such nomination rights are linked to the provision of funding by my Department under its capital and current funding schemes for social housing. The rules in this regard are set down in my Department's memorandum on Capital Funding Schemes for the Provision of Rental Accommodation by Approved Housing Bodies (Voluntary and Co - Operative Rental Housing) of May 2002, and related circulars, and the relevant Payment and Availability Agreements in force. AHBs may also, in consultation with the relevant local authority, make their own nominations for a proportion of tenancies in accordance with the relevant funding rules for tenancies in a housing project funded under a capital scheme.
AHBs are independent, not for profit organisations. Those AHBs that are signed up to the Voluntary Regulation Code (which includes all the large and growth AHBs ) must abide by the Code and associated standards. One such standard is the Performance Standard which sets out that AHBs are expected to have tenant service policies and management procedures establishing the roles and responsibilities of both the tenant and the landlord throughout the life of the tenancy agreement, from commencement to termination.
If an AHB is in receipt of funding under a relevant Exchequer funding scheme, they must comply with the terms and conditions of that scheme. Under such funding schemes (made available through local authorities), the AHB is required to make the property available for social renting for the duration of the mortgage or, as the case may be, the availability agreement.
It is a matter for the governing board of an individual AHB to determine how property, which is solely owned by the AHB without any mortgage or debt funding in place, is allocated to tenants in accordance with their constitution. All AHB tenancies are registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and therefore this channel should be the primary recourse in terms of procedures in any tenant/landlord matters.
