Dr. Pat Daly:

I thank the committee for inviting us to report on the implementation of Housing for All in Limerick. I am joined by colleagues, as the Chair has outlined. In the period from 2018 to 2021, a total of 3,256 social housing supports were delivered. Of this 551 homes were provided via new build, 235 homes were acquired, 322 homes were leased, and a further 2,147 tenancies were supported through the housing assistance payment, HAP, and the rental accommodation scheme, RAS.

The projected social housing target for Limerick is to deliver 2,693 homes by 2026. This target is a build target only. In 2022, a total of 458 homes will be delivered, which will be achieved through a combination of new build, acquisitions and leasing. There are 41 projects on site under construction, which will deliver 390 homes when completed by the middle of next year. We have a strong delivery pipeline to deliver new homes by 2026. We have 1,220 homes approved in the system at various stages, for example, feasibility, planning and pre-tender. This is 45% of our overall five-year target approved at this point in year 1 of Housing for All. We have a further 1,616 homes at pre-approval stage in the process of submitting to the Department for funding. Based on progress to date, we are well-positioned to reach our overall target.

Under the housing delivery action plan, Limerick has a target to deliver 1,156 affordable homes, of which 665 homes will be council-led through turnkeys and direct builds with the balance of 491 homes to be delivered by the approved housing body, AHB, sector under cost rental and the Land Development Agency, LDA. Under the council-led programme, we have identified a delivery pipeline of 1,267 homes across 22 projects through a mix of advance purchase turnkeys, serviced site fund, local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, and urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, schemes.

To ensure delivery of mixed tenure on large sites, the council is promoting an approach where 50% of the scheme is assigned to affordable homes - either cost rental or affordable purchase, 30% to social rental homes and 20% promoted for a private right-sizing model. The council has recently concluded a successful right-sizing pilot at Mungret Gate in the city in partnership with Clann Housing and sees a latent demand for this tenure type.

In terms of cost rental provision, the council is progressing 313 homes across three projects for hand-over in 2025 and 2026. Partnering with an AHB-led consortium, the council is concluding a Part 8 process for 18 cost rental homes as part of a mixed tenure scheme of 36 homes at Speaker’s Corner in the city. Another city site at New Road is preparing to lodge for planning this month for a mixed tenure scheme of 46 homes, of which 25 will be cost rental. The council signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2022 with the LDA to progress the delivery of cost rental on council-owned land and other State-owned lands at Colbert Quarter, which will deliver approximately 270 homes for cost rental in the first phase.

Delivery of social housing has been affected in Limerick by a range of factors, including the Covid lockdown and site closures, material supply-cost inflation issues and labour shortages on site common to many other areas. Particular issues in Limerick have included contractor receivership, a judicial review process relating to a large mixed tenure residential scheme under Part 8 and the absence of a leasing and acquisition target under Housing for All.

Unlike previous years under the Rebuilding Ireland programme, Limerick now has a zero target for leasing and acquisitions for the next five years that we are discussing with the Department to amend to assist in our delivery programme. However, we still as a council pursue acquisitions and leasing, for example, mortgage to rent, to prevent homelessness even though they are not counted against our target. Regardless of all these challenges, the council remains strongly committed to deliver a strong programme to achieve our housing targets.

From 2018 to 2021, Limerick delivered 77 new social homes under Part V. We are seeing a significant ramping up of delivery under Part V as more permissioned sites are being activated. Currently for 2022, 32 Part V homes have "sale closed" and completed with a further 26 to close by year-end. The year 2022 will deliver the highest number of Part V homes for the council - 58 homes - since the new Part V provisions came into being in 2016. The council is leading the way by using Part V to de-congregate institutional settings at Bawnmore and Lisnagry in accordance with the national policy Time to Move On. The council has delivered a number of Part V community dwellings that accommodate four to five service users with a 24-7 carer. The council is forecasting 579 Part V homes to be delivered by the end of 2026 based on signed agreements. However, Part V delivery is fully reliant on private sector delivery and any downturn in the private market will reduce the supply of Part V homes. In the event of a downturn, the council will pursue land for transfer as a default Part V obligation rather than homes on-site, which will ensure early activation and delivery of much-needed homes.

In line with pathway 4 of Housing for All, Limerick City and County Council is making significant progress in addressing vacancy and dereliction in the privately owned housing stock in its administrative area. The council established a dedicated dereliction, vacancy and re-use unit in 2018 and has employed a full-time vacant homes officer since that time. The council has adopted an area-based approach where derelict sites, vacant homes and vacant sites are all dealt with by one multidisciplinary team.

Limerick City and County Council has taken a very robust approach to dealing with dereliction and since 2019 has completed over 4,200 inspections of derelict and vacant properties in Limerick. This has resulted in over 1,500 statutory notices being served on property owners under the Derelict Sites Act 1990 indicating the considerable level of work being undertaken in this area.

In our experience, the best approach is to first identify and tackle derelict residential property as the vast majority of these are also vacant. In a large number of cases, owners of properties engage with the council and a significant amount of housing stock has been brought back into use arising from this activity. Where owners do not engage or cannot be found, the particulars of the land are entered in the statutory derelict sites register held by the council. With 388 active entries currently on the register, this represents significant progress in identifying unproductive and derelict properties in Limerick. Housing for All contains an objective for local authorities to acquire at least 2,500 vacant units by 2026 and present them to the market for sale.

Limerick City and County Council is one of most proactive local authorities in the country in terms of using its compulsory acquisition powers under the Derelict Sites Act 1990. The council has compulsory acquired 145 properties in the past three years with a further 21 applications for consent currently awaiting determination by An Bord Pleanála. A further eight vacant houses have been acquired for social housing through compulsory purchase orders under the Housing Act 1966.

Since 2019, the council has sold 19 of the compulsory acquired properties on the open market with a further 57 for sale or at sale agreed stage. The majority of these are residential properties needing varying degrees of renovation and are now being brought back into use by new owners. The Croí Cónaithe towns fund vacant property refurbishment grant has been a particularly welcome development in this regard and is helping drive homeowner interest in purchasing vacant and derelict properties.

While the majority of derelict sites are made available for sale on the open market, some are retained by the council for its own use, including for social housing, community-tourism use and a rural regeneration development fund, RRDF, funded pilot programme for refurbishing derelict houses before sale onto the open market.

The council applies a levy to all property on its derelict sites register and has collected €270,000 since 2018. There are nine properties on the vacant sites register and the council has collected €300,000 from a total of €1.766 million owed. All outstanding levies are actively pursued by the debt management unit of the council. The vacant homes officer works closely with the housing department directing owners of vacant and derelict properties to the repair and lease scheme and buy and renew scheme. Since 2017, Limerick City and County Council has delivered 30 units and 100 units, respectively, under this scheme.

To conclude, while we face a range of challenges, considerable work is under way by Limerick City and County Council and our partners - the Department, the AHB sector, the private sector and the LDA - to achieve the targets and to exceed upon these. I thank the committee. We welcome any questions members may have.