Thomas Gould
Question:741. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of full-time equivalent vacant homes officers by local authority in tabular form. [19449/21]
View answerWednesday, 21 April 2021
Questions (741, 742, 744, 745)
Thomas Gould
Question:742. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the funding provided for a vacant homes officer to each local authority in tabular form. [19450/21]
View answerThomas Gould
Question:744. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on whether the vacant homes schemes and policies are sufficient in addressing the vacant homes issue. [19452/21]
View answerThomas Gould
Question:745. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he receives regular updates on the number of homes applied for through the vacant homes scheme by local authority; and if so, if he will provide the figures. [19453/21]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 741, 742, 744 and 745 together.
The National Vacant Housing Reuse Strategy was published by my Department in 2018, since then my Department has provided funding to each local authority of €50,000 per annum. This funding is to support the work of a Vacant Homes Office, including a Vacant Homes Officer for each local authority. All 31 local authorities have claimed their funding up to June 2021 and this funding has been secured up to June 2022.
This Strategy strives to provide a targeted, effective and co-ordinated approach to identifying and tackling vacancy across Ireland. Table 1 below lists the number of Vacant Homes Officers in each local authority and if they are working as a Vacant Homes Officer full-time with only that responsibility, or if the role comprises part of their duties or they are employed part-time as a Vacant Homes Officer:
Table 1
|
Local Authority |
No. of Vacant Homes Officers |
Full-time |
Part-time |
|
Carlow |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Cavan |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Clare |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Cork City |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Cork County |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Donegal |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Dublin City |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
Dun Laoghaire |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Fingal |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Galway City |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Galway County |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Kerry |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Kildare |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Kilkenny |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Laois |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Leitrim |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Limerick |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Longford |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Louth |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Mayo |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Meath |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Monaghan |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Offaly |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Roscommon |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Sligo |
2 |
2 |
|
|
South Dublin |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Tipperary |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Waterford |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Westmeath |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Wexford |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Wicklow |
1 |
1 |
There are a number of supporting schemes available to assist property owners to bring their vacant properties back into use for social housing – the Repair and Lease Scheme, the Buy and Renew Scheme or Long Term Leasing.
- The Repair and Leasing Scheme is targeted at owners of vacant properties who cannot afford or access the funding needed to bring their properties up to the required standard for rental properties. The scheme provides upfront funding to carry out the works and, in return, the property owner agrees to lease the dwelling to the local authority to be used as social housing for a period up to 25 years. The maximum loan for property repair available under the Repair and Lease Scheme has been increased by my Department from €40,000 to €60,000.
- The Buy and Renew initiative allows local authorities to purchase private vacant properties for use as social housing.
- The Housing Acquisitions Fund is a €70 million revolving that was established in January 2017 with the objective of enabling the Housing Agency to acquire vacant units from banks and investment companies for social housing use. The fund is replenished by the Housing Agency through the sale of units primarily to the AHB sector and the funds received are then recycled back into the fund for future acquisitions.
Table 2 below gives a breakdown of the number of properties delivered under each of the schemes in each local authority.
|
Local Authority |
Repair and Lease Total Properties Delivered up to Q4 2020 |
Buy and Renew Dwellings Deliveredup to Q4 2020 |
Housing Agency Acquisitions Dwellings Delivered up to Q4 2020 |
TOTAL |
|
Carlow |
4 |
32 |
6 |
34 |
|
Cavan |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Clare |
0 |
28 |
3 |
17 |
|
Cork City |
2 |
43 |
5 |
47 |
|
Cork County |
3 |
33 |
52 |
88 |
|
Donegal |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
|
Dublin City |
2 |
58 |
81 |
133 |
|
Dun Laoghaire |
0 |
13 |
11 |
12 |
|
Fingal |
27 |
40 |
22 |
68 |
|
Galway City |
0 |
1 |
13 |
14 |
|
Galway County |
2 |
0 |
5 |
7 |
|
Kerry |
4 |
42 |
6 |
28 |
|
Kildare |
1 |
8 |
36 |
43 |
|
Kilkenny |
1 |
7 |
7 |
14 |
|
Laois |
1 |
21 |
14 |
33 |
|
Leitrim |
0 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
|
Limerick |
17 |
69 |
17 |
76 |
|
Longford |
6 |
11 |
5 |
22 |
|
Louth |
1 |
83 |
5 |
60 |
|
Mayo |
10 |
4 |
4 |
16 |
|
Meath |
1 |
51 |
17 |
47 |
|
Monaghan |
6 |
19 |
- |
7 |
|
Offaly |
0 |
5 |
7 |
8 |
|
Roscommon |
3 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
|
Sligo |
0 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
|
South Dublin |
0 |
0 |
33 |
33 |
|
Tipperary |
1 |
23 |
36 |
55 |
|
Waterford |
113 |
47 |
12 |
134 |
|
Westmeath |
1 |
4 |
8 |
12 |
|
Wexford |
27 |
15 |
9 |
45 |
|
Wicklow |
0 |
1 |
10 |
10 |
|
Total |
234 |
670 |
436 |
1340 |
My Department will continue to keep the Vacant Homes Schemes and the various functions of the Vacant Homes Offices under review with ongoing feedback from our Vacant Homes Officers.
Question No. 743 answered with Question No. 694.
Questions Nos. 744 and 745 answered with Question No. 741.