Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. It follows on from a discussion we had at Question Time in the Dáil during the week. A major focus of the Department and ourselves is on the whole area of vacant properties. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, touched on it but there is certainly a better wind for us in terms of the urgency of getting houses back on track. In many cases, the infrastructure is there already. The water and sewerage infrastructure, the footpaths, the shops and so on are there to service these units, if we can get them back into use. Many of our plans are actually activating these houses. There is accommodation in the private sector as well. Much progress was made with voids last year, with money allocated to bring 2,3000 units back into use in terms of our own social housing stock. In terms of private property, we recognise that very often the people who own these properties do not have the cash to get them back to a suitable condition to be able to rent them out and that is the reason behind the repair and lease back. The amount could be €20,000 up to €40,000 but in many cases in the pilot scheme, it has been under €20,000, that is, to get the house back into use and into a condition that is acceptable. That is what that is about. There is a return on the money after a couple of years in terms of the lease back. The money allocated there is €32 million in 2017 and it could bring in a minimum of 800 units, or probably much more since that figure is based on the renovations costing €30,000 or €40,000. That is one scheme that will work well.

There is the buy and renewal initiative where €25 million has been allocated to local authorities. Some local authorities are leading here in buying up vacant properties, and I would cite Louth as an example. They are finding a mechanism under existing powers to take over vacant properties - in some cases very run-down properties - if they cannot find the owners. It enables them to bring them back into use and that is what we are trying to do, so we are providing the resources there.

I refer to regulations, planning and direction. I chair a working group on urban renewal and regeneration and we are looking at all of this. It is a cross-departmental group with representatives from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, who have a fair input into this. There are local authority managers on it as well and other outside agencies are involved, from an architectural point of view, to see how we can strengthen the tool kit on offer to local authorities and other agencies to make this happen. The Deputy is right that in many cases these vacant properties are on our high streets. Under some rules, it is not economical to bring them back into play. We are looking to see what we can do to ease this process around certification, planning and the regulations, including fire and so on, while not to renege on quality and on safety. In many cases, it means the local authority would take control of this and lead this conversation. It would mean meeting the owners of these properties and going street by street to see how this can be done and to get the properties back into use. We said last week that we are prepared to work on this and maybe by the end of March, we will produce our initiative in this area, which will be a range of suggestions to make this happen better.

We will also look at the regulations because we know that in some cases, they prevent this happening and, in some cases, for good reason, in terms of safety. Part of that is to come up with some new initiatives to encourage these vacant properties to be utilised again and to look at some towns and villages that have had a major difficulties because of their location. Such towns have suffered decline over many years, predating our difficulties with the construction sector over the last ten years but going back 20 or 30 years. If we are going to reverse that, it means having a conversation about the economic purpose of those towns and villages, where they are going and what their long-term vision is going to be. That conversation is probably going to happen in terms of Ireland 2040 - Our Plan, on which the Minister is leading off on, and where we are going as a country from a planning point of view. We often cite a town where there was a 20-year plan and on which €150 million to €180 million was spent over that timeframe to bring it back to where it is today. There was a long-term vision there, and that same long-term vision will be needed in many of the towns and villages we are looking at through the urban renewal and regeneration. Long-term commitment is what is needed here but one has to have a long-term plan in the first place. We believe that the local authorities are central to making that happen, by pulling all the agencies together and taking the lead. It is up to us then to find the resources to reward that. In the short term, we want those residential properties to be in use and we are looking at the planning regulations and changes to be made in April, I think, for the commercial properties to be reused as residential properties and to make that a more streamlined process. We are doing what the Deputy has suggested we do.

The vacant property register is on track to be completed before the end of the second quarter of 2017 and that will give us the information on these vacant properties. We can then try to analyse that and see how we work it. I totally agree with the Deputy that there is a win for taxpayers in getting these vacant properties into use. Our job as a Department, along with local authorities, is to try to make this happen and make it easier, which is what we are trying to do. In some cases, that means tweaking regulations, if needs be, in the correct manner and reducing the cost of doing that and providing certainty. If one talks to someone who owns a property, having this conversation about how to restore a property and bring it back into use is a nightmare. We have to make it easier for people to do that because we want to bring the property back into use.

The Chairman asked about build versus purchase or renewal of vacant properties. We have a range of offers across the different schemes. The Minister and I meet local authorities and engage with officials and our message to them is that there is a range of schemes and that they should let us know what suits best in their areas. In certain counties, it makes sense and it is better value for taxpayer to buy up properties and bring them back into use, certainly where there are many empty properties. In other areas, it is essential that we fast-track construction and get construction projects up and running again but there is space within the schemes to apply what suits best for each local authority. As the Minister said, it takes time to rebuild that construction capacity for social housing, which is the end game here. That is what we want to do. In the meantime, in some cases, it makes a lot of sense to activate vacant properties and buy up empty properties, which we are doing through the Housing Agency and the various schemes. If we go into any estate in any county, we come across empty properties. We are trying to find out who owns them. Local authorities are doing that and they are compiling a register. Most of those properties are probably mortgaged and owned by a lending institution. The Housing Agency is trying to buy them in bulk. On streets, often properties have gone into decline over a number of years.

We have enough schemes with enough options. We have to work with local authorities at county level to make a decision about what is best for them in their own county and we will facilitate that, as will the Department.