Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2022
272. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way that house refurbishment for reallocation is funded between his Department and local authorities; the circulars or directions by his Department that have been issued in the past year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28163/22]
View answerThe management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966.
Notwithstanding this, my Department provides annual funding support to local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-let under the Voids Programme. This funding was introduced originally to tackle long term vacant units and is now increasingly targeted to support authorities to ensure minimal turnaround and re-let times for vacant stock.
From 2014 to 2021, expenditure of some €261 million was recouped to local authorities under the Voids Programme which funded the return to productive use of 18,527 properties nationwide.
My Department will continue to support local authorities in their work remediating vacant social housing properties in 2022. As per Circular 18/2022, funding of €25 million to support the refurbishment of c. 2,273 vacant properties is being made available under this years programme.
Given the very significant investment into the Voids Programme over recent years, particularly in 2020 and in 2021, local authorities should now be in a strong position to begin the transition to a strategic and informed planned maintenance approach to stock management and maintenance.
To that end, my Department and local authorities are working to transition from a largely response and voids based approach to housing stock management and maintenance, to a planned maintenance approach as referenced in Housing for All, policy objective 20.6. This will require the completion of stock condition surveys by all local authorities and the subsequent development of strategic and informed work programmes in response.
As notified in Circular 18 2022, an additional €5 million in funding has been ring-fenced for Planned Maintenance under this years Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme to support an ICT asset management system for the LA sector and to provide a funding contribution for the commencement of stock condition surveys.
