Seanad debates

Wednesday, 19 January 2022

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Housing Provision

2:30 pm

Photo of Malcolm NoonanMalcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach agus leis an Seanadóir, agus athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh go léir. I might not be able to answer all of the questions the Senator has put to me. I have taken a note of them and I will try to get to him with some of the responses. I will address the overall issue of vacancy in Limerick, which is the core issue. Addressing vacancy and maximising the use of existing housing stock is a primary objective of the Government, as demonstrated by one of the four pathways dedicated solely to this priority area in the new Housing for All strategy.

Housing for All outlines a suite of measures aimed at addressing vacancy in a co-ordinated and robust manner. These include a new local authority-led programme to help local authorities buy or compulsory purchase 2,500 vacant homes in their areas. The Croí Cónaithe towns initiative will attract people to build their own homes and to support the refurbishment of vacant properties in small towns and villages. A new town centre first policy, which will be launched in a number of weeks, will include approaches to utilising existing stock. These measures are in addition to the vacant property tax consideration being pursued by the Department of Finance as a replacement for the vacant site levy.

With regard to voids, 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 responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under section 28 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provision) Act 2009. Since 2014, Exchequer funding has been provided through the Department's voids programme to support local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-letting. This funding was introduced to tackle long-term vacant units and is now targeting local authorities to ensure minimal turnaround and re-let times for vacant stock. Limerick City and County Council received €7.6 million in funding from 2014 to 2021, supporting the return of 505 properties to use. This might explain the disparity in figures the Senator provided. Local authorities will always have a level of vacancy in their housing stock. This will fluctuate over time, as tenancy surrender and re-letting of stock is an ongoing process.

The Department has been providing support for an ambitious regeneration project in Limerick city since 2007, with a cumulative investment of more than €417 million to date. The Limerick regeneration framework implementation plan adopted by the council in 2014 provided a roadmap for the physical, social and economic regeneration of the target areas. It proposed the refurbishment of more than 1,400 existing social and private houses. More than 1,100 refurbishments have been completed to date under the thermal upgrade programme. These actions, along with investment in social, economic and physical regeneration being implemented under the Limerick regeneration framework implementation plan are making a real difference to the communities in the regeneration area. The buy and renew scheme along with the repair and leasing scheme are also valuable tools available to local authorities to tackle vacancy and provide social housing.

With regard to leasing, as the Senator will be aware, Housing for All sets out the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. The annual targets include the delivery of 88,400 new social homes and 53,800 new affordable homes between 2022 and 2030. Thankfully, we have seen construction activity ramping up over the course of 2021 and this will continue this year. The strategy will focus strongly on new builds, and in particular local authority-led new build activity. It will see a managed phasing out of long-term leasing by 2025. The Senator addressed this issue. Limerick has no long-term leasing target under Housing for All but it was recently allocated a 2022 target of 21 short-term rental availability agreements.

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