Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2023
400. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide details on how many void properties have been brought back into use to date in 2023, broken down by local authority; and the average turnaround times for vacant council properties per council. [29831/23]
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 the legal obligation on local authorities, since 2014, Exchequer funding has also 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. This programme is in addition to the funding provided through the local authorities own resources.
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 Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme 2023 have issued to all local authorities which will see a minimum of 2,300 dwellings remediated and returned to productive use this year.
Work in relation to the 2023 Programme is ongoing, however, it will be later this year before significant recoupment claims are lodged with my Department. Full details in relation to 2023 Programme will be published on my Department’s website early in 2024.
Statistics in relation to the 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 vacancy and the average time taken to re-tenant a dwelling. The most recent report, relating to 2021 as published in November 2022, is available on the NOAC website at the following link:
noac.ie/noac_publications/report-50-noac-performance-indicator-report-2021/
