Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and the committee for agreeing to discuss and scrutinise this legislation at such short notice after Second Stage was agreed in the Dáil.

The Vacant Housing (Refurbishment) Bill essentially creates a one-stop shop for approving refurbishment projects in local authorities, which will remove many of the existing administrative hurdles to redeveloping vacant commercial and residential buildings. This will not affect the building or safety standards that are required of these units. Rather, it will make it more convenient for owners to bring compliant units to the market. These are obviously badly needed in the context of the housing crisis. We believe that what we are seeking to do will bring thousands of vacant units onto the market, particularly as there are thousands of units throughout the country that are above commercial spaces or in older properties which could, and hopefully will, be used for residential purposes but which are not yet compliant with building regulations. Bringing such units to the market currently requires multiple meetings with different officials, namely, fire officers, disability officers, planners, and possibly conservation officers. For most people, this amounts to a lot of cost and hassle, meaning that an otherwise perfect unit remains unused into the future. Many of these units are in prime city or town centre locations. It is estimated, for example, that there are 4,000 vacant above-the-shop units in Dublin city alone, which is a shameful waste in view of the ongoing housing crisis here. We believe that this would also offer an opportunity to address the issue of dilapidation in cities, towns and villages and revitalise, re-energise and repopulate these areas. The latter would, in turn, potentially lead to the provision of greater retail facilities.

Under this Bill, safety standards and the necessity for full compliance with building regulations would remain unchanged. We earnestly ask the Department to draft and publish revised technical guidance documents to accompany each part of the building regulations for use by the one-stop shop in respect of these type of refurbishments. The core change suggested in the Bill would involve all regulatory sections - those relating to building control, conservation, disability access, fire and planning - being brought together to agree on a solution in the case of a refurbishment or conversion of an older structure or commercial premises to residential use. This is clearly a more joined-up approach to the issue of refurbishment and would make it more attractive for a building owner to seek certification for his or her building. While building owners will still have the option of using the old system to certify their buildings, the new one-stop shop procedure would offer a more expedited and centralised approach.

There would be an optional pre-application consultation whereby advice would be offered as to whether an application meets requirements to be processed via the one-stop shop. The actual application would be presented in person in front of a panel of experts. The latter would then sign off on the full application in one or two days.

The one-stop shop will issue a works permit which will replace a fire safety certificate and a disability certificate, as well as verifying compliance with other parts of the building regulations. Construction can then commence as soon as possible.

Approved inspectors would inspect the checklist on the site to ensure compliance. Creating a panel of approved inspectors in every local authority is the most significant contribution to the Bill, as it would pave the way toward a more rigorous and flexible inspection regime across the country. These inspectors would be paid standardised fees and be accountable to local authorities via a three-year framework agreement. This would remove the financial link between certifiers and developers. Being an approved inspector would also help inspectors get professional indemnity insurance and latent defects insurance, which is virtually unheard of in the market. While this new approved inspector system would be initially for refurbishments, once in place it could be tasked with increasing inspections and enhancing retrospective compliance with building regulations in existing rental units.

As anyone who has followed the news in recent weeks can attest to, this is clearly needed. There is just one inspector with responsibility for the entire Dublin city area for fire safety in rental accommodation. The inspection rate is estimated to be less than 10%. Similar issues with illegal subdivisions, over-occupancy and non-compliance with building control regulations will also be addressed by the enhanced inspection regime.

While this Bill is not a finished product, it represents a genuine attempt to overcome many of the existing administrative faults in our planning and building control processes identified as holding back urban regeneration. We have worked on this Bill in conjunction with several practitioners and experts. We have consulted widely with key stakeholders, including officials working in housing and planning in local authorities, Dublin City Council, multiple housing bodies working on the ground, such as the Peter McVerry Trust and Simon, builders and architects. We are appreciative of their efforts and support. We look forward to working with our parliamentary colleagues in this committee process to fine-tune the Bill. It is hoped it will have the desired effect of addressing significant vacancy rates and provide for greater participation of building owners to ensure these premises can be placed on the market. In turn, this will provide more units to deal with the current housing crisis.