Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2023
510. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount of money provided by his Department to local authorities for the purpose of refurbishing vacant properties; and the amount drawn down by each local authority in each of the past five years, in tabular form. [13939/23]
View answer517. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will detail the total funding allocated under the voids programme to each local authority in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023; the total number of units completed by each individual local authority under the voids programme in the same period, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14023/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 510 and 517 together.
The 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.
Since 2014, Exchequer funding has been provided through my Department's Voids Programme to support local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-letting. This funding was initially introduced to tackle long term vacant units and is now increasingly targeted at ensuring minimal turnaround and re-let times for local authority vacant stock.
An annualised breakdown by local authority of the funding provided and the number of properties remediated under the Voids programme for the years 2014 up to and including 2022 is available on my Department's website at the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/collection/0906a-other-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/#voids-programme.
My Department will continue to support local authorities in their work in this area. Funding allocations under the 2023 Programme will be announced shortly. Notwithstanding the voids funding being provided by my Department, local authorities have a responsibility to provide adequate housing maintenance budgets for 2023 and this parallel work by local authorities is essential for the development of the planned maintenance approach, which is an objective of Housing for All.
