I will give a brief overview of the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency. The agency was established in May this year on an administrative basis. It is essentially one housing agency under the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The aim of the new agency is to facilitate the rationalisation of a number of existing agencies, and it replaces the National Building Agency, the Affordable Homes Partnership, the Centre for Housing Research and the Homeless Agency.
The primary objectives of the agency are to work with and support local authorities, which are the housing authorities in the country, voluntary housing organisations and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the delivery of housing, planning and related services. Its primary role is to support and assist local authorities in their delivery of housing. When fully operational, the agency will be responsible for supporting and assisting in the implementation of housing policy set by the Department. It will also facilitate the delivery of social housing and housing support. It will also provide research and policy advice, land bank management under the land aggregation scheme and in future carry out certain regulatory functions.
I will give a flavour of some of the current work carried out by the agency. It provides general advice in support of the Department with regard to housing. It supports local authorities with regard to best practice and in achieving consistency in the delivery of housing and there are also a number of operational areas in which it carries out work.
Currently there are 20 staff working in the housing agency, working in the following areas. There is homeless accommodation procurement in the Dublin region, which is a very high priority. With local authority loans, the agency carries out underwriting on behalf of local authorities for all house purchase loans issued by local authorities. Under the rental accommodation scheme leasing and housing provision, the agency provides support on the provision of housing through leasing, renting, construction and acquisition. With regard to land aggregation and local authority housing lands, the agency manages lands being transferred to Housing and Sustainable Communities Limited. It is also working on various other areas, such as incremental purchase, which will in time replace the tenant purchase scheme, and the introduction of sales of flats, which has not happened to date but is being introduced throughout the country. The agency also carries out research and general social housing reform, as there was a major piece of housing legislation last year that must be implemented across the country.
There are some examples that give a flavour of the work. With regard to homeless accommodation procurement in the Dublin region, in the past two months the housing agency became very heavily involved in the area. It is co-ordinating a procurement team across the Dublin region to source properties for homeless households. Currently in offices there are staff from the Dublin authorities, and these work with some voluntary housing organisations to source and provide accommodation. The aim is to provide mainstream housing in apartments for individuals and households which are currently in temporary homeless accommodation in Dublin. Along with the provision of housing there would be support provided for those families and households in living independently. The target is to provide 1,200 homes in Dublin for that purpose, and it is a major priority at the moment.
I will give an example of a central service to be delivered efficiently with regard to local authority house purchase loans. The agency provides a central underwriting service and credit checks for all house purchase loans carried out on behalf of all local authorities nationally. Underwriting has been completed on 770 applications. Three members of our staff are able to provide an efficient underwriting service, thereby avoiding pressure on local authorities to try to scale up staff in that area.
Housing provision is a key area in terms of demands for social housing. The agency provides support for the rental accommodation scheme, the recently introduced leasing scheme for social housing, and the acquisition, construction and use of unsold affordable housing for social housing purposes.
The land aggregation scheme has received considerable media attention. Under the revised arrangements on land used for social housing, local authorities can apply to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to have their outstanding loans with the Housing Finance Agency redeemed and, if their applications are approved, the land will be transferred to us. Our role is to manage and maintain the land and come up with strategies for its future use. Land will continue to be made available to local authorities where it is needed for social housing. Some land will also be made available for alternative uses if, for example, the HSE, the Department of Education and Skills or other public body requires accommodation. A full consultation will be undertaken with the local authority concerned and other relevant organisations before we do anything with the land and, as planning authorities, local authorities will retain significant influence over its use.
The agency will allow all existing agencies with responsibility for housing to be rationalised into a single body under the aegis of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Approximately 100 staff are currently employed in existing agencies but we will need fewer than 50 people to provide an efficient level of support and a centralised service to local authorities and other organisations. For example, we will be able to work with the four Dublin local authorities to procure property for homeless accommodation. We will also provide an underwriting service for housing loans on a national basis. By concentrating skills and expertise in the area of housing in one location, we can avoid the difficulties experienced by Departments and local authorities when staff transfer from housing into other areas. This will allow us to deliver housing nationally in a consistent manner.