Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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241. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown by county of the number of current social housing units that are not currently let; the number of these that are available to let; the number of these that will be available to be let in the next three months; the number of social housing units that will be constructed by county in the next 12 months; the number of persons on each local authority social housing list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48664/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, local authorities, as the housing authorities for their areas, are responsible for the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock and my Department does not hold some of the specific information sought. Statistics on local authority housing stock, including units that may be empty, are published by the Local Government Management Agency; the most recent data are in respect of 2012 and are available at the following link: . The latest summary of social housing assessments carried out as at 7 May 2013 provides data on the number of households on local authority waiting lists at that date across a range of categories broken down by authority and is available on my Department’s website at: .

Waiting list numbers are subject to on-going fluctuation due to households being allocated housing and new households applying for housing support.  The 2013 results cannot be directly compared to previous results given that this last summary employed different methodologies and was the first to be carried out under the 2011 Social Housing Assessment Regulations.

In relation to the refurbishment of vacant social housing stock, my Department provides funding to local authorities for works to such units to support their return to productive use. €30 million has been available in 2014 targeting the return of 1,960 vacant and boarded up units to productive use in an energy efficient condition and I expect this target to be met by the end of the year. Budget 2015 has given additional impetus to this area, and I envisage a further 1,000 vacant properties being returned to productive use through additional funding next year.

The Government’s Social Housing Strategy 2020: Support, Supply and Reform , published on 26 November, builds on the provisions contained in Budget 2015 and sets out clear, measureable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing, reform delivery arrangements and meet the housing needs of all households on the housing list. In committing to provide 35,000 new social housing units, at a projected cost of €3.8 billion, the strategy marks a fresh start for social housing in Ireland. The strategy will be delivered in two phases: phase 1 targets the delivery of 18,000 additional housing units and 32,400 Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme units by the end of 2017. In phase 2, spanning the years 2018 to 2020, the strategy targets the delivery of 17,000 additional units and 43,000 Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme units.

For 2015, I expect that some 7,400 new social housing units will be provided under the range of existing initiatives broken down as follows: 3,000 units through leasing initiative; 2,000 new Rental Accommodation Scheme units; 1,000 vacant local authority units to be refurbished and brought back to use; with a further 1,400 units to be built or acquired by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies through the Social Housing Investment Programme and Capital Assistance Scheme. A further 8,400 households will be assisted through the Housing Assistance Payment. The detailed planning in relation to the number of units that will be built or acquired in 2015 by individual local authorities is now underway; this will be based on each individual authority’s housing need and priorities and will build on a range of social housing construction projects already underway across the authorities.