As the Deputy is aware, approved housing bodies (AHBs) have a critically important role to play in achieving the targets set out in the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan For Housing and Homelessness. Currently, housing bodies are granted approved status by me as Minister, under Section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 for the purpose of being able to receive funding from local authorities, to provide social housing. An AHB seeking to obtain, and to retain, approved status in its memorandum or articles of association must:
- Have as primary objectives the relief of housing needs, or poverty or hardship or the welfare of travellers, and the provision and management of housing;
- Have provisions prohibiting the distribution of any surplus, profit, bonus or dividend to members and requiring the assets of the body be applied solely towards its objectives;
- Have a winding-up clause which states that, in the event of winding up or dissolution of the company, there remains any property whatsoever, it shall be given or transferred to some other institution having objectives similar to the objectives of the company.
This arrangement has been in place since 1992 and the Government acknowledges that a more modern regulatory system needs to be put in place to oversee a sector which has developed significantly since then. My Department is currently working on new legislation which will establish a Statutory Regulator to oversee, more effectively, the governance, financial management and performance of voluntary and co-operative housing bodies that provide housing in accordance with the Housing Acts.
In the interim, the Government established an Interim Regulation Committee for the AHB sector under the auspices of the Housing Agency, which, supported by a Regulation Office based within the Agency, oversees implementation of a voluntary regulation code (VRC) for AHBs. Since the Code was put in place, any AHB applying for housing funding from my Department and local authorities must furnish proof of compliance with the Voluntary Code. Only those AHBs that have undergone a satisfactory assessment as part of the annual assessment process by the Regulation Office are considered eligible for funding local authorities for the provision of social housing.
There are a number of schemes under which AHBs can seek to access funding through borrowing from local authorities for the provision of housing. In addition to the oversight regime in relation to the governance and financial stability of the sector, AHBs seeking such funding have to enter into contracts with local authorities under the terms of the various schemes. The contracts provide the terms and conditions under which the AHBs may receive the funding, including provisions in relation to appointing receivers in the event of a default on the loan, so as to ensure the continued use of the relevant property for social housing purposes. If an AHB becomes insolvent and has yet to pay off any capital debts owed to the State, the State retains a substantial interest in the housing assets and the units are not lost from the social housing stock.
