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Gnáthamharc

Local Authority Housing Maintenance

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 September 2017

Thursday, 21 September 2017

Ceisteanna (240)

Catherine Murphy

Ceist:

240. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the average cost per unit to local authorities of refurbishing and or retrofitting existing units in each of the past five years for which figures are available by county; the cost per unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39943/17]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966 provides that the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including the implementation of planned maintenance programmes and carrying out of responsive repairs and pre-letting repairs, is a matter for each individual local authority.

The Exchequer funding provided by my Department under the voids programme is to support the return of vacant units to productive use for re-letting in an energy efficient condition at a reasonable cost. This funding is available as an additional support over and above what local authorities provide themselves towards such work and the authorities can and do contribute additional funding if they so wish. Table 1 below gives details of all the units returned to productive use since the commencement of the programme and the allocation thus far in 2017.

Table 1: Voids Programme – Average cost of units from 2014 to 2016

Local Authority

Units returned 2014

Funding 2014

Average cost per unit

Units Returned 2015

Funding 2015

Average cost per unit

Units Returned 2016

Funding 2016

Average cost per unit

2017 Allocation Unit

2017 Funding Allocation

Carlow

42

€325,111

€7,740.74

28

€300,650

€10,737.50

8

€69,450

€8,681.25

8

€94,000

Cavan

23

€349,137

€15,179.87

28

€307,018

€10,964.93

32

€307,530

€9,610.32

12

€221,950

Clare

65

€995,831

€15,320.48

96

€1,472,533

€15,338.89

79

€1,329,700

€16,831.65

24

€514,308

Cork City

212

€2,872,028

€13,547.30

281

€4,522,819

€16,095.44

151

€1,442,538

€9,553.23

43

€871,000

Cork County

155

€1,539,363

€9,931.37

199

€2,091,578

€10,510.44

97

€1,200,488

€12,376.16

69

€1,326,850

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown

5

€89,896

€17,979.20

24

€262,768

€10,948.67

19

€183,092

€9,234.93

128

€1,875,185

Donegal

167

€919,797

€5,507.77

146

€1,003,576

€6,873.81

83

€766,499

€13,427.21

377

€8,313,500

Dublin City

467

€6,163,465

€13,198.00

787

€10,858,088

€13,796.81

531

€7,129,848

€11,739.96

11

€188,621

Fingal

165

€1,938,780

€11,750.18

139

€1,624,632

€11,688.00

147

€1,725,774

€8,688.10

151

€2,108,750

Galway City

26

€474,050

€18,232.69

25

€222,025

€8,881.00

28

€309,150

€9,636.43

16

€174,400

Galway County

76

€958,263

€12,608.72

59

€705,347

€11,955.03

37

€472,552

€11,041.07

30

€642,500

Kerry

79

€718,938

€9,100.48

103

€884,736

€8,589.67

90

€917,549

€12,771.68

56

€778,865

Kildare

49

€503,463

€10,274.76

20

€359,808

€17,990.40

24

€485,130

€10,194.99

7

€140,000

Kilkenny

25

€484,430

€19,377.20

23

€381,639

€16,593.00

11

€156,278

€20,213.75

9

€182,500

Laois

43

€257,014

€5,977.06

12

€61,228

€5,102.33

12

€97,053

€14,207.10

5

€41,440

Leitrim

15

€229,072

€15,271.47

9

€177,474

€19,719.33

47

€566,620

€8,087.74

16

€260,700

Limerick

98

€915,969

€9,346.62

52

€500,689

€9,628.63

18

€384,250

€12,055.74

32

€554,000

Longford

16

€313,250

€19,578.13

22

€426,535

€19,387.95

23

€506,705

€21,347.22

37

€225,000

Louth

9

€113,620

€12,624.44

21

€292,279

€13,918.05

8

€91,523

€22,030.65

7

€87,500

Mayo

80

€464,508

€5,806.35

86

€878,600

€10,216.28

25

€233,089

€11,440.40

22

€353,200

Meath

59

€1,037,501

€17,584.76

54

€855,565

€15,843.80

65

€989,420

€9,323.54

47

€842,000

Monaghan

21

€92,751

€4,416.71

13

€100,502

€7,730.92

40

€302,944

€15,221.85

13

€182,000

Offaly

35

€514,000

€14,685.71

55

€551,532

€10,027.85

41

€408,426

€7,573.59

7

€135,500

Roscommon

34

€224,028

€6,589.06

36

€258,773

€7,188.14

72

€529,811

€9,961.62

4

€74,500

Sligo

29

€311,648

€10,746.48

39

€439,924

€11,280.10

68

€1,097,909

€7,358.48

44

€738,697

South Dublin

92

€627,407

€6,819.64

27

€216,838

€8,031.04

81

€703,736

€16,145.72

92

€1,397,022

Tipperary

86

€935,801

€10,881.41

115

€1,299,180

€11,297.22

100

€1,122,318

€11,223.18

58

€751,200

Waterford

42

€605,428

€14,414.95

56

€488,724

€8,727.21

83

€745,973

€8,987.63

52

€853,820

Westmeath

56

€369,518

€6,598.54

74

€650,813

€8,794.77

43

€436,062

€10,140.98

8

€88,371

Wexford

20

€316,307

€15,815.35

24

€294,811

€12,283.79

17

€167,007

€9,823.94

11

€231,500

Wicklow

35

€650,204

€18,577.26

43

€857,499

€19,941.84

10

€245,887

€24,588.70

9

€174,300

TOTAL

2326

€26,310,578

€11,311.51

2696

€33,348,183

€12,369.50

2,090

€25,124,311

€12,021.20

1,405

€24,329,179

Furthermore local authorities are currently undertaking an ambitious programme of insulation retrofitting, with the support of my Department, on the least energy efficient social homes. The aim of the Programme is the improvement of energy efficiency and comfort levels, benefitting those at risk of fuel poverty and making a significant contribution to Ireland’s carbon emissions reduction targets and energy reduction targets for 2020.

The programme is being implemented in a number of phases: Phase 1 commenced in 2013 and is focused on providing attic/roof insulation and the less intrusive cavity wall insulation in all relevant properties, while Phase 2, which has been piloted in both Fingal and Westmeath County Councils, will focus on the external fabric upgrade of those social housing units with solid/hollow block wall construction.

The funding made available by my Department is subject to limits depending on the nature of the retrofitting work. Under Phase 1, the grant limits are currently set at €3,500 per unit while the grant limits relevant to Phase 2 are €14,650 for mid-terrace and €17,650 for end-terrace units, reflecting the more complex works required under this phase.

From 2013 to end 2016, funding of some €107 million has been provided to improve 58,000 local authority homes. The average cost of retrofitting these units is €1,833 per unit, with the bulk of the units upgraded under Phase 1 in accordance with the relevant limits.

Details of the average per cost per unit, broken down by local authority for the years 2013 – 2016, are set out in table 2 below.

Table 2: Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Programme – Average Costs 2013 - 2016

2013

2014

2015

2016

2013 - 2016

Local Authority

Units

Average Cost

Units

Average Cost €

Units

Average Cost €

Units

Average Cost €

Total Units

Overall Average Cost €

Carlow

179

1,842

262

1,473

290

2,720

53

920

784

1,981

Cavan

180

1,895

525

1,621

598

1,297

302

1,084

1,605

1,430

Clare

366

1,737

333

1,497

298

1,739

175

1,491

1,172

1,633

Cork City

397

2,748

950

2,107

2,329

1,400

2,128

2,159

5,804

1,886

Cork County

510

2,400

819

1,318

1,181

1,135

1,622

1,797

4,132

1,587

Donegal

235

1,385

526

1,522

453

1,968

380

2,098

1,594

1,766

Dublin City

449

6,974

3303

1,588

2,469

1,551

496

1,352

6,717

1,917

Dun Laoghaire / Rathdown

757

1,785

1058

1,900

369

2,594

75

2,439

2,259

1,993

Fingal

2135

1,528

146

12,997

326

4,750

207

4,750

2,814

2,734

Galway City

167

1,927

319

1,559

383

2,030

874

2,683

1,743

2,261

Galway County

802

949

325

1,202

290

2,157

461

1,680

1,878

1,359

Kerry

69

7,171

538

871

441

1,246

108

1,354

1,156

1,435

Kildare

201

2,257

694

2,202

311

1,985

468

2,616

1,674

2,284

Kilkenny

415

1,870

212

1,968

260

1,526

21

7,004

908

1,913

Laois

333

1,450

512

1,473

402

1,383

51

1,529

1,298

1,441

Leitrim

146

1,774

164

1,550

550

561

158

1,096

1,018

977

Limerick City

245

1,653

Limerick County

104

3,809

545

1,770

41

1,585

0

0

935

1,958

Longford

521

2,203

227

1,631

142

2,267

0

0

890

2,068

Louth

194

943

430

1,481

502

1,753

761

1,254

1,887

1,406

Mayo

193

2,496

131

3,133

216

2,149

131

2,523

671

2,514

Meath

185

3,473

405

1,671

577

1,872

526

1,663

1,693

1,934

Monaghan

213

1,575

240

1,746

336

968

0

0

789

1,369

Offaly

269

1,339

217

1,094

694

798

287

1,052

1,467

991

Roscommon

90

2,069

422

1,120

202

1,153

107

276

821

1,122

Sligo

189

1,783

265

1,300

624

1,045

280

869

1,358

1,161

South Dublin

223

3,193

601

3,043

390

1,660

346

2,163

1,560

2,523

Tipperary North

898

1,901

Tipperary South

322

1,640

689

1,889

0

0

223

1,466

2,132

2,192

Waterford City

68

8,395

Waterford County

286

1,190

636

1,205

605

3,074

0

0

1,595

2,192

Westmeath

753

1,434

968

888

200

2,449

131

6,592

2,052

1,605

Wexford

757

1,283

1263

817

298

1,497

59

3,499

2,377

1,117

Wicklow

256

5,175

285

4,649

225

1,488

873

2,276

1,639

3,033

Totals:*

13,107

€2,056

18,010

€1,706

16,002

€1,681

11,303

€1,994

58,422

€1,833

*Figures include Phase 1, some Phase 2 (2015/2016) and special projects outside Phase 1/2)

Local authorities are continuing to undertake works under the programme in 2017 and submit claims for funding on an on-going basis as works are completed. As such, my Department does not yet have complete figures for the average costs of units retrofitted this year.

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