Written Answers Nos. 213-223
213. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will provide statistics on the number of pre-1963 properties in the State; and the estimated number of private rental units in such buildings. [4714/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra214. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his Department considered proposals during the drafting of the so-called Tyrellstown amendment in the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 to impose restrictions on owners of multiple rental units in pre-1963 buildings such that they would not be entitled to end a tenancy for reasons of sale, that is, that they would be covered under the Tyrellstown amendment or a similar provision. [4715/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 213 and 214 together.
My Department does not hold or collate statistics on the numbers of pre-1963 properties in the State or the number of private rental units in such buildings. Data from Census 2011 indicate that there were 392,447 dwellings built before 1961 in the State. Of those dwellings, almost 51,000 were in the private rented sector. New data will be published by the Central Statistics Office on housing related issues in April 2017 in respect of Census 2016.
Sections 38 to 40 of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to provide, inter alia, that where a landlord proposes to sell 10 or more units within a single development at the same time (i.e. within a 6-month period), the sale will be subject to the existing tenants remaining in situ, other than in exceptional circumstances. These provisions are intended to avoid situations where large numbers of tenants have their tenancies terminated at the same time in the same development. The provisions apply to all instances of the sale of 10 or more units within a ‘development’ as defined in the 2016 Act and which are not otherwise exempt from its provisions.
215. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the need for new homes each year. [4807/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra216. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding social and affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4831/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 215 and 216 together.
Addressing the challenges in the housing sector is an absolute priority for the Government. Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, published in July 2016, sets out the Government’s approach to increasing the provision of housing, including social housing. This cross-Government plan is divided into five pillars, each targeting a specific area of the housing system for attention.
Rebuilding Ireland is designed to accelerate all types of housing supply – social, private and rental. By 2021, some 47,000 new social houses will be provided through a range of means involving building, leasing and acquisition, supported by investment of €5.35 billion. In tandem with this, housing output generally will be progressively increased towards the target of producing 25,000 new houses per year by 2021 or earlier if possible. Addressing homelessness is given special priority within the plan which provides for a range of early solutions to address the high number of households in emergency accommodation. In addition, specific attention is being directed to the rental sector and a new Strategy for the Rental Sector was published in December 2016.
Implementation of Rebuilding Ireland is being advanced across a number of Departments, under the oversight of the Cabinet Committee on Housing, chaired by An Taoiseach. Within my own Department, an Implementation Board of senior officials, chaired by the Secretary General, monitors progress on a fortnightly basis. In addition, Project Working Group structures for each of the Action Plan’s five Pillars are being put in place to ensure that any operational considerations relating to the delivery of actions are identified early and resolved quickly and effectively.
Rebuilding Ireland contains a clear commitment to reporting regular progress, particularly through quarterly progress reports. The First Quarterly Progress Report on the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness – Rebuilding Ireland (in respect of Quarter 3 commitments and actions), which was published on 1 November 2016, can be accessed at http://rebuildingireland.ie/First-Progress-Report.pdf.
Further progress reports will follow on a quarterly basis, with the next due to be published early this month. Each quarterly report will focus on the actions due to be progressed or completed in the preceding quarter.
217. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of enforcement notices issued nationwide since 1 January 2013, by year and by council, in tabular form. [4880/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra218. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of prosecutions under the Building Control Act 2007 in the past five years for south Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Meath, Kildare and Donegal county councils and Dublin City Council, by year and by council, in tabular form. [4881/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra219. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of completion certificates rejected under the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 9 of 2014 in each of south Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Meath, Kildare and Donegal county councils and Dublin City Council, by council, in tabular form. [4882/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 217 to 219, inclusive, together.
In relation to the Deputy’s requests for data in relation to enforcement notices, prosecutions and rejection of completion certificates by Building Control Authorities, I have no role or function in relation to these matters. These are matters for local authorities, who are independent in the use of their statutory powers under the Building Control Acts 1990 – 2014.
The Local Government Management Agency published data in relation to building control in the Service Indicators in Local Authorities reports from 2005 to 2013. These reports are available at www.lgma.ie/en/search/node/Service%20Indicators.
Following the commencement of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, the National Oversight & Audit Commission (NOAC) now collects and publishes this data. The Performance Indicators in Local Authorities reports for 2014 & 2015 are available at http://noac.ie/noac-reports/.
The Building Control Regulations, 1997, SI No. 496/1997 www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1997/si/497/made/en/print, require Building Control Authorities to keep a register of, inter alia, any enforcement notices served by them and the date and outcome of any decision of the District Court in respect of an enforcement notice. The Regulations require that this register shall be available for inspection at the offices of the Building Control Authority during office hours.
The Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014, S.I. No. 9/2014 www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/si/9/made/en/print, require Building Control Authorities to keep a register of any valid Certificate of Compliance on Completion accepted by the authority. It does not require Building Control Authorities to keep a register of any Certificates of Compliance on Completion which are not accepted by the authority; however, this information may be available from individual Building Control Authorities.
220. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the amount spent on rectifying defective social housing in the past ten years by south Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Meath, Kildare and Donegal county councils and Dublin City Council, by year and by council, in tabular form. [4883/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraInformation on the activity and spend by individual local authorities and approved housing bodies on the maintenance and repair activity for their social housing stock is not available in my Department. Responsibility for the maintenance and repair of social housing rests with each of the individual housing authorities and approved housing bodies in respect of the housing stock they own. Over and above the maintenance and repair of social housing carried out by the individual local authorities, my Department provides some funding for targeted programmes of stock improvement, ranging from regeneration programmes to insulation retrofitting, but such programmes are generally focused on bringing deteriorated stock up to modern standards as distinct from addressing defective stock. In certain limited circumstances, funding has been made available in order to address defective housing: details will be compiled and forwarded to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
The following is the funding made available by my Department to the local authorities listed over the past ten years to address defective social housing, over and above maintenance and repair resources invested by the local authorities themselves and the targeted stock improvement programmes that my Department funds:
|
Local Authority |
Funding |
|
Dublin City Council |
€9,492,096 |
|
Fingal |
€1,004,227 |
|
Donegal |
€72,000 |
222. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of family units that are recipients of the housing assistance payment within each local authority area and county by location within that authority or county; the amount received by household type and size; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4891/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra223. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the cost of HAP for each administrative unit or county for 2016; the number of recipients by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4900/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 222 and 223 together.
The implementation of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is a key Government priority and the accelerated roll-out of the scheme on a national basis is an important early action for completion in the Government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, Rebuilding Ireland.
HAP is now available to all qualified households in 28 local authority areas, with over 17,300 households currently being supported by the scheme. The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) is also managing a HAP Homeless Pilot for the four Dublin local authorities. 12,075 additional HAP tenancies were set-up in 2016 exceeding the scheme’s Rebuilding Ireland target of 12,000 tenancies for the year. The final roll-out of HAP will be comp l eted with the introduction of the scheme to Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council areas from 1 March, 2017.
The HAP scheme is funded through a combination of Exchequer monies and tenant differential rents collected in respect of HAP tenancies. The provisional Exchequer outturn for the HAP scheme in 2016 was in excess of €57 million. The majority of this funding is to support the ongoing costs of tenancies established in 2015 that continued into 2016, and the costs of the 12,075 additional households supported by the scheme in 2016. Budget 2017 has increased the Exchequer funding for the HAP scheme to €152.7 million, in order to meet the continuing costs of existing HAP households, and the costs of supporting an additional 15,000 households to be supported by HAP in 2017.
A breakdown of household s supported by HAP by household class within each local authority area at end 2016 is currently being collated and will be published on my Department’s website shortly . A breakdown of the cost of supporting HAP tenancies by local authority in 2016 will also be compiled and provided to the Deputy, along with other data requested, in accordance with Standing Orders.
The table provides the number of additional HAP tenancies set-up by local authority in 2016:
|
Local Authority |
Total HAP Tenancies Set-up 2016 |
|
Carlow County Council |
365 |
|
Clare County Council |
832 |
|
Cork City Council |
941 |
|
Cork County Council |
1,050 |
|
Donegal County Council |
952 |
|
Galway City Council |
336 |
|
Galway County Council |
381 |
|
Kerry County Council |
7 |
|
Kildare County Council |
773 |
|
Kilkenny County Council |
324 |
|
Leitrim County Council |
3 |
|
Limerick City & County Council |
653 |
|
Longford County Council |
1 |
|
Louth County Council |
697 |
|
Mayo County Council |
412 |
|
Meath County Council |
489 |
|
Monaghan County Council |
171 |
|
Offaly County Council |
244 |
|
Sligo County Council |
211 |
|
South Dublin County Council |
981 |
|
Tipperary County Council |
929 |
|
Waterford City & County Council |
509 |
|
Wexford County Council |
1 |
|
Wicklow County Council |
3 |
|
Dublin Regional Homeless Executive* |
810 |
|
Grand Total |
12,075 |
*DRHE is operating the HAP Homeless pilot on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities
A summary of the household classes supported by the HAP scheme at 31 December 2016 is set out below:
- Single/Single Sharing - 32%
- Couple/Couple Sharing - 4%
- Lone Parent with Children - 39%
- Couple with Children - 25%.
My Department continues to keep the operation of the HAP scheme under review. I am very satisfied with how the HAP scheme is operating and I consider it to be a key vehicle for meeting housing need and fulfilling the ambitious programme under Rebuilding Ireland.
