Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 October 2021
443. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount allocated to each local authority to bring back voids or derelict council homes to council stock over the past five years; the number brought back to stock by each local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50531/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra444. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of voids and derelict houses put back into housing stock by each local authority; the number that have been reallocated over each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50532/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra445. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of voids or derelict houses reported by each local authority over the past five years per year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50533/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 443, 444 and 445 together.
The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, responsive repairs and implementing planned maintenance programmes, is a matter for each individual local authority, in line with Section 28 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provision) Act 2009.
Notwithstanding the legal obligations on local authorities to manage and maintain their housing stock, my Department is focused on ensuring that existing housing stock is utilised to its fullest extent. Since 2014, Exchequer funding has been provided through my Department's Voids Programme to support local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-letting. This funding was initially introduced to tackle long term vacant units and is now increasingly targeted at ensuring minimal turnaround and re-let times for local authority vacant stock.
Over the period 2016-2020, almost €169 million in funding has been provided by my Department to remediate 10,940 properties under the Voids Programme. This figure does not include properties returned to productive use by the local authority using funding from their own resources. The allocation of these remediated social homes and the normal re-letting of properties otherwise becoming available are a matter for each individual local authority.
The table at the following link gives a breakdown by local authority for each of the 5 years 2016-2020 inclusive: https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2021-10-19_pq443-19-10-21_en.docx.
Further statistics in relation to social housing stock, at a point in time, are published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in their Annual Reports on Performance Indicators in Local Authorities. These reports provide a range of information in relation to social housing stock, including re-let times, levels of vacancy etc. in local authority owned properties. The most recent report, relating to 2019, is available on the NOAC website at the following link: https://noac.ie/noac_publications/noac-performance-indicators-report-2019/.
