Written Answers Nos. 318-326
319. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a local authority (details supplied) made an application for affordable housing in any location in the county; the correspondence between the council and his Department in this regard; the position of same if an application has been submitted by the local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54006/21]
View answerOn 23 June 2021, my Department received an application from Mayo County Council seeking funding under the Serviced Sites Fund, to assist in the delivery of 25 affordable purchase homes in Westport. Following an initial examination of this application, my Department wrote to Mayo County Council seeking a number of clarifications.
The delivery of affordable housing, in accordance with the schemes set out in the Affordable Housing Act, 2021 and the funding being made available, will be underpinned by local authorities' Housing Delivery Action Plans. Local authorities, including Mayo County Council, will be submitting their Plans to me in December. Each local authority will assess the level of demand with affordability constraint in their area based on the Housing Need and Demand Assessment and plan provision accordingly.
320. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total expenditure to date on homeless HAP. [54018/21]
View answer321. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin at the end of each quarter from Q1 2016 to Q1 2021, in tabular form. [54019/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 320 and 321 together.
The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support for people who have a long-term housing need. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP and those households must source their own accommodation in the private rental sector.
Under HAP, households at risk of homelessness may be eligible for additional supports. To qualify for specific additional supports available to homeless households, a household must have been determined by the relevant local authority to be homeless within the meaning of section 2 of the Housing Act 1988. The operation of local homeless services, including the Place Finder Service, is a matter for each local authority.
Expenditure on the initial set-up costs of homeless HAP tenancies to end Q2 2021 of €74.9m is detailed by year in the table below. This comprises of rent in advance, deposits and associated costs:
|
Year |
2021 (to end Q2) |
2020 |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
|
Spend (€m) |
12.5 |
20.3 |
18.6 |
12.0 |
11.5 |
Once a homeless HAP tenancy is setup, the ongoing cost of the tenancy is provided for under the general HAP scheme monthly landlord payments. The costs of homeless HAP tenancies are not differentiated.
Total expenditure by my Department on the HAP scheme for the period 2017 – Q2 2021 is detailed in the table below.
|
Year |
Outturn €M |
|
2017 |
152.7 |
|
2018 |
276.6 |
|
2019 |
382.4 |
|
2020 |
464.7 |
|
2021 (to end Q2 2021) |
260.5 |
The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) operates Homeless HAP on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities. The total number of homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin, at the end of each quarter from Q1 2016 to Q1 2021, is detailed in the table below:
|
Year |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
|
2016 |
38 |
244 |
493 |
869 |
|
2017 |
1398 |
1760 |
2182 |
2643 |
|
2018 |
3160 |
3624 |
4367 |
4930 |
|
2019 |
5600 |
6255 |
6860 |
7513 |
|
2020 |
8037 |
8751 |
9547 |
10140 |
|
2021 |
10994 |
11,715 |
322. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of septic tanks at private dwellings that were inspected (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54060/21]
View answerMy Department does not receive any details of inspections, numbers approved for grants etc., and the Deputy may wish to contact the local authority mentioned in the details supplied for further information in relation to his request.
The table below sets out details of recoupment for 2020 and 2021 by my Department under the Domestic Waste Water Treatment System Grant Schemes (also known as Septic Tanks) to the local authority named in the details supplied.
|
Year |
Number of grants recouped |
Amount recouped by Department |
|
2020 |
19 |
€62,634.75 |
|
2021 (to 04 November 2021) |
31 |
€127,860.87 |
Some general information on the Terms and Conditions, including eligibility criteria for each of the three grant schemes, can be found on my Department's website here. The day to day administration of these grant schemes is devolved to the local authorities.
323. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will undertake a fundamental review of An Bord Pleanála to ensure that its decisions are made with good quality place making and democratic decision making in planning in view of the latest High Court decision against An Bord Pleanála with respect to the Dublin City Council material amendments to the Docklands SDZ. [54101/21]
View answerI wish to explain at the outset that, under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, I am specifically precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála is, or may be concerned.
Sections 50, 50A and 50B of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, codify the statutory right of judicial review of any decision of An Bord Pleanála. An Bord Pleanála takes full cognisance of any settled legal adjudication in relation to its decisions and seeks to apply any principles from those to its application of its statutory decision making role.
Section 3.2.4 of “Housing for All - A New Housing Plan for Ireland"sets out a number of objectives with the aim of improving the functioning of the planning system including the comprehensive review and consolidation of planning legislation. The review will also include a fitness check and upgrade of relevant provisions of planning law to ensure that it is more accessible and streamlined from a legal perspective.
This review, which is being led by the Attorney General, is due to be finalised by September 2022 to allow updated legislation to be enacted by December 2022.
324. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the establishment of a deposit retention scheme given the legislation passed on this matter by the Houses of the Oireachtas in 2015 and in view of the loss of deposits by tenants of a company (details supplied) when the company went into liquidation. [54114/21]
View answerThe Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 provided for, among other things, the establishment of a tenancy deposit protection scheme to be operated by the Residential Tenancies Board. However, there have been significant changes in the rental market since the 2015 scheme was first envisaged and designed. For example, the 2015 scheme was intended to be financed by the interest payable on deposits lodged; this is no longer viable, given the current financial market conditions.
The Programme for Government and Housing for All – a new Housing Plan for Ireland includes an action to examine the creation of a system of holding rental deposits, informed by international experience, by Q2 2023 and my Department is currently considering how best to achieve this.
Section 7 of the Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021 inserts a new section 19B into the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 which applies to tenancies created on or after 9 August 2021, to restrict the total amount that a tenant is required to pay to a landlord by way of a deposit or an advance rent payment to secure a tenancy to no more than the equivalent of 2 months’ rent (i.e. any deposit cannot exceed 1 month’s rent and any advance rent payment cannot exceed 1 month’s rent). A restriction of the equivalent of 1 month’s rent is also placed on the amount that a tenant is obliged to pay as a regular advance rent payment to a landlord during a tenancy. These measures are intended to greatly reduce any financial exposure to tenants, on foot of paying such restricted upfront payments.
325. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the final date for strategic housing development pre-planning applications to An Bord Pleanála; and the expected final deadline for full strategic housing development applications to An Bord Pleanála in view of the delay in the introduction and passing of the planning and development (amendment) (LSRD) Bill. [54144/21]
View answerI refer to the reply to Question No. 350 of 2 November 2021. The position remains the same.
326. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update following on from the publication of the Report from the Working Group on the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme; if there has been progress in relation to putting in place a suitable scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54150/21]
View answerI received the final report of the Working Group on Defective Concrete Blocks in early October and since then have engaged in extensive consultation with Government colleagues on the matter. Following completion of this consultative process I intend bringing a memorandum to Government, in the immediate term, setting out proposals for improvements to the existing scheme, it’s future administration and various other matters raised in the Report of the working group.
