Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am delighted to introduce this Bill to the House. The Bill is straightforward, making technical changes to section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 relating to the charging of local authority rents. The amendments in the Bill will remove contradictory text from this enactment, thus enabling section 31 to be commenced in an effective sequence.

It was the intention to commence the relevant provisions of section 31 of the 2009 Act from the beginning of this year, to set in train the process of introducing the new rents system from 1 January 2014. However, the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government advised that text in subsection (5) of section 31 precludes the enactment from being commenced in a sequence which ensures a clear statutory basis for housing authorities to charge rents for their dwellings during the transition from the existing basis for charging rents to the introduction of section 31 rents. Parliamentary counsel also advised that amending legislation is necessary to enable section 31(5) to be brought into operation for a period which will permit housing authorities to make their first rent schemes under the enactment before subsection (3) is brought into operation empowering councils to charge rents under section 31 of the 2009 Act. Hence the need to draft the Bill I present today.

I will take the opportunity presented by this amending Bill to delete text from subsection (6) of section 31 which conflicts with a rent system where charges are determined by reference to household composition and income and, where applicable, the cost of facilities provided to dwellings. I have no intention of departing from the long-established practice whereby local authorities charge rent for their accommodation based on household income and, to this end, I will remove text from the regulation-making power in section 31 which refers to other criteria for setting rent, including local market rents and the cost of providing social housing support.

Local authorities charge rent for their accommodation under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. Responsibility for setting local authority rents has been devolved to individual city and county managers since 1986, with the result that throughout the country there is now wide variation in rent levels, and the method of their calculation, for dwellings funded wholly by the Exchequer. Section 31 of the 2009 Act facilitates significant harmonisation in rents charged while providing the elected members of local councils with some discretion in setting rent parameters in their areas. Harmonisation will be achieved through regulations that will be made in the period following enactment of the amending Bill. The intention is to charge a base rent for each household member, plus a differential rent based on a proportion of net household income in excess of a threshold which varies according to household composition. Under section 31 of the 2009 Act, individual housing authorities are also empowered in their rent schemes to include charges in the rent relating to the costs of works and services provided to the dwellings under the Housing Acts. The regulations will provide for a transitional period to allow for a phased introduction of material adjustments to rent levels arising in individual cases under the new system.

The intention is to harmonise the approach to the setting of rents in as equitable a manner as possible to limit rent increases for individual households as far as practicable while also ensuring local authorities receive sufficient rental income to manage and maintain their housing stock into the future. It is critical we implement this reform measure properly as it represents a fundamental improvement on the existing fragmented approach to the setting of local authority rents throughout the country.

As it will be of interest to Deputies, I will provide more context through outlining my plans for more substantive social housing legislation in the future. The Department is formulating proposals for the general scheme of a miscellaneous provisions Bill which I hope to bring forward later this year. This will provide for a new scheme of housing assistance payments to implement the Government's decision in principle in March 2012 to transfer responsibility for long-term rent supplement recipients from the Department of Social Protection to local authorities.

In addition, the Bill will put in place a new procedure for the repossession of local authority dwellings to replace section 62 of the Housing Act 1966, which the Supreme Court declared in February 2012 to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights in certain circumstances. The Bill will also underpin current requirements in relation to the entitlement of non-Irish nationals to be assessed by local authorities for social housing support.

I am also planning further housing legislation providing for a new tenant purchase scheme for existing local authority houses along incremental lines and other provisions following on from the implementation of the Housing Act 2009 which provides for, and underpins, many of the reform measures proposed for this sector.

As stated, this is a short and purely technical Bill that is required to facilitate the effective commencement of legislation that has been enacted. I look forward to the co-operation of the House in securing its early enactment.

I commend the Bill to the House.

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