Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
812. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the projected number of voids in each local authority; the number that will be returned to use in 2022; the number that will not; the funding committed to this in 2022; the amount spent to date in 2022; the projected budget for this work in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41684/22]
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. This figure does not include the funding provided by local authorities through their own resources.
My Department continues to support local authorities in their work remediating vacant social housing properties in 2022. This year funding of €25 million to support the refurbishment of c. 2,273 vacant properties is being made available and each individual local authority has been notified of their target number of units and funding allocation as per Circular 18/2022.
Work in relation to the 2022 programme is underway but it will be later this year before significant recoupments are made. Details in relation to the drawdown and number of units remediated will be available in early 2023.
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.
Discussions are ongoing in relation to the appropriate budget and target number of units to implement the 2023 Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme.
Furthermore, statistics in relation to social housing stock are published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in their Annual Reports on Performance Indicators in Local Authorities. These reports provide a range of information in relation to social housing stock, including the level of vacancy by local authority. The most recent report, relating to 2020, is available on the NOAC website at the following link:
noac.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/NOAC-Local-Authority-Performance-Indicator-Report-2020.pdf
