Written Answers Nos. 301 - 310
301. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if all sections of the Planning and Development Act 2000 have been brought into force, particularly the sections dealing with the taking in charge of estates by local authorities including section 180; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9011/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAll provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 came into operation over the period 1 November 2000 to 28 April 2004, inclusive. Section 180 of the 2000 Act relating to the taking in charge of estates by planning authorities came into operation on 21 January 2002 by way of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 (Commencement) (No. 3) Order 2001 which was signed by the then Minister on 19 December 2001.
302. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government if he has considered making provisions to ensure that former council houses that are bought out by tenants could only be re-purchased by the council again, if they are resold rather than going on sale in the open market which could result in sales to investors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9027/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra310. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the tenant purchase scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9044/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra311. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the status of local authority tenants who are affected by radon (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9046/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra313. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government why local authority houses which have adaptations in place to accommodate disabilities cannot be purchased through the tenant purchase scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9071/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 302, 310, 311 and 313 together.
Provision was made in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 for a new incremental tenant purchase scheme for existing local authority houses. Following the necessary preparatory work the new Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible tenants must meet certain conditions including having been in receipt of social housing support for a minimum period of one year and having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum.
The minimum reckonable income is determined by the relevant housing authority in accordance with the detailed provisions of the Ministerial Direction issued under Sections 24(3) and (4) of the 2014 Act.
Under the terms of the new Scheme the discounts are linked to tenant income and can be 40%, 50% or 60% of the purchase price. On sale of a house under the Scheme, the housing authority will place an incremental purchase charge on the house equivalent to the discount granted to the tenant. Generally, the charge withers away over a period of 20, 25 or 30 years depending on the level of discount received.
Where a tenant purchaser wishes to re-sell the house during the charge period he or she must seek the consent of the housing authority to the resale. In such cases, the housing authority also has the first option to buy back the house. If the tenant purchaser sells the house in the charge period, he or she must pay to the housing authority the current value of the outstanding charge.
The Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015 governing the Scheme provides for a number of specified classes of houses to be excluded from sale. The Regulations do not exclude houses which have been specifically adapted for the needs of people with disabilities or houses which are affected by radon.
Housing authorities may, within the provisions of the Regulations, exclude certain houses which, in the opinion of the authority, should not be sold for reasons such as proper estate management. It is a matter for each housing authority to administer the new Scheme in its operational area in line with the over-arching provisions of the relevant governing legislation.
The new scheme is in the very early stages of implementation and my Department is monitoring its operation in consultation with housing authorities.
303. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the stages of the procurement process he and local authorities used for the provision of local authority housing from pre-planning through to construction; and the average length of time this process takes for any individual build project, based on all local authority new build housing projects that have been completed during 2014 and 2015. [9035/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraProcurement in relation to social housing build developments, from pre-planning through to construction, arises primarily in relation to procurement of consultants and procurement of contractors. These follow either national or EU procurement requirements, depending on the cost involved, as required by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
Carrying out procurement as part of a social housing build development is the responsibility of the local authority or approved housing body implementing the project and does not directly involve my Department. Accordingly, my Department does not retain records on the average length of time of procurement processes carried out by local authorities or approved housing bodies. I would point out that as major public sector bodies, local authorities deal with procurement on an ongoing basis and have a strong level of experience and expertise in the area.
304. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the fast-track planning and procurement process used in the rapid build projects in Poppintree in Ballymun in Dublin 11. [9036/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra305. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government if the fast-track procurement process used for the Ballymun rapid build project could be used for standard local authority social housing new builds, where Part 8 planning permission is already in place; and if not, the reason. [9037/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 304 and 305 together.
My Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation for homeless persons rests with individual housing authorities. I understand that Dublin City Council, as contracting authority for the rapid-delivery housing units intended to accommodate homeless families at Poppintree, Ballymun, availed of the accelerated restricted procedures under the relevant EU procurement directives for procurement of the units and that the Chief Executive availed of his powers under section 179(6)(b) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 for planning purposes.
The Office of Government Procurement is currently developing a Rapid Delivery Housing Procurement Framework, with a view to it being available by end-Summer. This will be available to the housing authorities in the Dublin region for the procurement of the 350 rapid delivery units identified for the region over and above the 150 units being delivered by Dublin City Council and, indeed, will be available to all local authorities nationally, should they wish to procure rapid delivery housing for pressing accommodation needs.
In late 2015, I issued a Ministerial Policy Directive, under section 29 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, to the four Dublin planning authorities. The purpose of the Directive was to remind the authorities of the statutory provisions of section 179 of the Planning and Development Act and Part 8 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2011, as amended, in relation to local authority own development and recommend that they utilise all powers available to them under these provisions for the purpose of finding solutions to the social housing situation and accelerating the delivery of social housing developments to address the pressing social housing need.
306. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of housing assistance payment tenancies in place as of 1 April 2016, by new tenancies, and by existing tenancies, where the State subsidy has changed from rent supplement to housing assistance payment. [9038/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme continues to be rolled out across the country on a phased basis and is now operational in 19 local authority areas. A detailed breakdown of the Quarter 1 2016 data is currently being prepared, including the number of households transferring from the Rent Supplement scheme in this period. This detailed breakdown will be published on my Department’s website, www.environ.ie, shortly.
307. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of the 2,000 properties transferred to social housing from the National Asset Management Agency or from National Asset Management Agency debtors that have been tenanted, as of 1 April 2016. [9039/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince December 2011, my Department together with the Housing Agency, local authorities, and approved housing bodies have been working with the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) in order to facilitate the provision of residential properties for social housing use. The properties under consideration are part of the security for loans that NAMA has acquired. In the majority of cases, properties remain in the ownership of the original borrowers. The remaining properties are controlled by receivers appointed by NAMA. To the end of March 2016, 2,042 of these units have been secured for social housing providers. This figure includes 1,469 units that are complete and a further 573 units where contracts have been signed and final completion works are under way in order to bring the units to a habitable standard. A further 163 properties are considered as being active transactions whereby terms are agreed or active negotiation is on-going by all parties concerned or where a detailed appraisal is being carried out. An additional 335 properties are to be further appraised.
While the allocation of properties to social housing tenants is a matter for each individual local authority, from the information available to my Department, I am confident that the majority of the 1,469 units that are complete are currently occupied. In some cases delays may occur because additional works or adaptations may be required to units, for example in cases where the units are to be tenanted by someone with a physical disability.
Information on the NAMA social housing programme is available on the website of the Housing Agency at www.housing.ie/NAMA.
308. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the progress of the targets for 2015 to 2018 announced on 1 April 2015 (details supplied), and the number of units delivered, that is tenanted on 1 April 2016, by local authority, in tabular form. [9040/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra309. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the details of the 13,000 keys handed over under the social housing strategy in 2015 and in 2016 to date, by tenancy type, including local authority new build, refurbishment, acquisition and re-let; new Part V allocation; approved housing body new build and relet; new and renewed tenancy under the rental accommodation scheme; new tenancy under the housing assistance payment scheme, old tenancy transferred from the rent supplement scheme to the housing assistance payment scheme, and any other tenancy type not included in this list. [9041/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 308 and 309 together.
The Social Housing Strategy 2020 targets the provision of over 110,000 social housing units, through the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units and meeting the housing needs of some 75,000 households mainly through the Housing Assistance Payment.
Social housing targets have been set for each local authority out to 2017 and are available on my Department’s website, along with the associated provisional funding allocations, at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41016,en.htm.
Over 13,000 social housing units were delivered in 2015, the first full year of implementation of the Strategy. This represents an 86% increase in unit delivery above 2014. It was achieved in a very difficult operating environment and represents a good start to the Strategy’s implementation. The targets for 2016 are again ambitious and I expect that over 17,000 social housing units will be provided this year.
In January 2016 , in collaboration with the Housing Agency, I published the Social Housing Output in 2015 report, detailing how the 13,000 units were delivered across all the social housing programmes in 2015 . The report is available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/housing/social-housing/social-housing-strategy/social-housing-output-2015 .
Additional data on the breakdown of output in 2015 , across all social housing delivery programmes, by local authority, is available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/housing/social-housing/social-and-affordable/overall-social-housing-provision.
Information regarding on-going output in 2016 is being gathered and will be collated and published in due course.
My Department does not hold information on the allocation of social housing supports to households on the waiting list, whether by local authority housing or other accommodation provided by a local authority. The allocation of such support is a matter for each housing authority in accordance with its allocation scheme made under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009.
