Vacant Properties

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 November 2022

Tuesday, 22 November 2022

Ceisteanna (281, 283)

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

281. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the scheme that is in place for the return of long-term voids by local authorities. [57406/22]

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

283. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of voids to be returned by each local authority under the voids return scheme in 2022, in tabular form. [57408/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

I propose to take Questions Nos. 281 and 283 together.

The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966.

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.

Under the 2022 Voids Programme, funding of €25 million has been made available across the local authorities for the remediation of 2,273 properties. The allocation per local authority is outlined in the following table.

Local Authority	Number of Properties allocated
Carlow	37
Cavan	54
Clare	50
Cork City	144
Cork County	117
Donegal	94
Dublin City	359
DLR	68
Fingal	76
Galway City	37
Galway County	39
Kerry	66
Kildare	90
Kilkenny	48
Laois	42
Leitrim	19
Limerick	99
Longford	55
Louth	72
Mayo	35
Meath	57
Monaghan	30
Offaly	28
Roscommon	30
Sligo	39
South Dublin	105
Tipperary	108
Waterford	92
Westmeath	45
Wexford	53
Wicklow	85
Total	2,273

Given the very significant investment into the Voids Programme over recent years, it is expected that local authorities should have dealt with legacy vacancy and should now be in a strong position to begin the transition to a strategic and informed planned maintenance approach to stock management and maintenance.

To that end, my Department and local authorities are working to transition from a largely response and voids based approach to housing stock management and maintenance, to a planned maintenance approach as referenced in Housing for All, policy objective 20.6. This will require the completion of stock condition surveys by all local authorities and the subsequent development of strategic and informed work programmes in response. My Department will support these work programmes by ensuring that the funding available under the various stock improvement programmes is aligned with this approach.   In this regard, €5 million in funding has been ring-fenced for Planned Maintenance under this years Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme to support the implementation of an ICT asset management system for the local authority sector and to provide a funding contribution for the commencement of stock condition surveys.