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Social and Affordable Housing Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018

Tuesday, 12 June 2018

Ceisteanna (1314, 1315)

Jackie Cahill

Ceist:

1314. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of housing units owned by an association (details supplied) without a tenant; the period of time they have been without a tenant, by county, in tabular form; the main reason for this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25058/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Jackie Cahill

Ceist:

1315. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of housing units owned by an association (details supplied) that are without a tenant; the period of time they have been without a tenant, by county, in tabular form; the main reason for this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25059/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1314 and 1315 together.

The information that the Deputy has sought is not available in the format requested.

Under the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP), properties leased and owned by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), including properties funded under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF), are made available to local authorities for social housing under Payment and Availability (P&A) Agreements. Where such a dwelling becomes vacant, the terms of the P&A agreements provide that payments continue to be made to the AHB for a maximum period of 3 consecutive months in order to allow for re-tenanting of the dwelling. For CALF properties, this period can be extended by one additional month where the housing authority has not provided a nomination within one month of being notified of the vacancy.

If the dwelling remains vacant at the end of the 3-month period and has not been withdrawn from the scheme, it is deemed to be inactive and notified to my Department. No payment is made by my Department in respect of inactive dwellings. Inactive dwellings may become active again when they are re-tenanted.

In relation to the AHBs referred to in the questions, I understand that there are currently no inactive properties in the SHCEP programme. However, my Department does not hold data on properties within SHCEP that have been vacant for less than 3 months.

AHBs may also avail of funding of up to 100% under my Department’s Capital Assistance Scheme to assist them in providing housing for the elderly, homeless and people with disabilities. As this scheme is administered by the local authorities, my Department does not have information relating to tenancies.

The oversight of AHBs is currently conducted through the Voluntary Regulation Code (VRC), Building for the Future, A Voluntary Regulation Code for Approved Housing Bodies in Ireland, which is available at the following link:

https://www.housingagency.ie/Regulation/The-Code.pdf .

At present, 245 AHBs are signed up to the VRC which is overseen by the Interim Regulation Committee (IRC), based in the Housing Agency.

Annual regulatory returns for the AHBs which are signed up to the Code are submitted to the Housing Agency's Regulation Office which undertakes an assessment of those AHBs. While I understand that the Regulation Office does not as a matter of course collect data on the information sought by the Deputy, as part of the annual assessment, AHBs are asked to provide the total number of voids that an organisation experienced in a year and the average length of voids. However, the Regulation Office does not provide data on individual AHBs, but provides consolidated data on the sector within their Annual Reports, which are available on their website at the following weblink:

https://www.housingagency.ie/regulation/publications-and-useful-links.aspx .

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