Written answers

Wednesday, 20 July 2016

Department of Environment, Community and Local Government

Local Authority Housing

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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200. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which his Department continues to be made aware of new applicants applying for local authority housing arising from repossessions or notice to quit from landlords; the extent to which this is being monitored by the various local authorities with a view to taking steps to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23103/16]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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201. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of persons currently on the various local authority housing lists throughout the country; the extent to which rent increases are making it impossible for such families to exist or remain in their homes; if urgent provision can be made to meet their requirements thus preventing a rapid escalation in homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23104/16]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together.

The assessment of applications for social housing support is the responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated regulations. The prescribed application form for such support requires applicants to provide certain information on their current and previous accommodation, including whether they received a notice to quit or an eviction notice in respect of their current accommodation and the reasons for leaving previous accommodation. My Department does not collate day-to-day information on the number of applications made to each local authority nor the specific contents thereof.

Statutory Summaries of Social Housing Assessments are carried out at regular intervals and they provide information on the number of households on local authority housing waiting lists. Only those households which have been assessed as being eligible and in need of such support following the carrying out of the prescribed application process by the relevant housing authority are placed on the list. The most recent summary, carried out as at 7 May 2013, provided details on the number of households categorised as having a housing need due to an unsustainable mortgage. Details of the 2013 Housing Needs Assessment are available on my Department’s website at the following link: .

The 2016 Summary of Housing Assessments is now underway, and future summaries of social housing assessments will be carried out on an annual basis, providing up-to-date and comprehensive data on the numbers of households qualified for social housing support on an on-going basis, including the level of households which have a housing need arising from unsustainable mortgages.

The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015, enacted on 4 December 2015, introduced a number of measures to address rent stability. The Act provides, inter alia, that the minimum period between rent reviews for tenancies is increased from 12 to 24 months and this new provision will apply for a 4 year period. In addition, the Act increased the minimum period of notice of new rent from 28 days to 90 days. Each of these new provisions commenced on enactment. Further provisions to support rent stability in the 2015 Act include that a notice of new rent must be in the prescribed form, include details of dispute resolution procedures available through the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and be accompanied by details of the rent sought in respect of 3 comparable dwellings in the area.

Ultimately, the key to addressing rising rents and preventing homelessness is through increasing the supply of homes. In publishing Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness on 19 July 2016, the Government has set out a practical and readily implementable set of actions that aim to increase annual housing supply to 25,000 units per annum by 2020, thereby creating a functioning and sustainable housing system. The plan is available at the website www.rebuildingireland.ie.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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202. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of housing purchases or new housing starts approved by his Department in respect of County Kildare in the past 12 months having regard to the rising extent of homelessness, rapidly increasing rents and the numbers on the local authority housing waiting lists; if cognisance is being taken of the worsening situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23105/16]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Targets in respect of social housing delivery via a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes, were set for each local authority out to 2017 and are available on my Department’s website, along with the associated provisional funding allocations, at the following link: .

As part of these targets, almost €87 million has been allocated to Kildare County Council for the delivery of 1,283 social housing units.

It is a matter in the first instance for the Council to identify projects, across all approaches, to deliver social housing as soon as possible. I am keen that all local authorities, including Kildare County Council, advance these projects and I have assured them that funding is available to support their efforts in this regard, including construction and acquisition projects.

Following the notification of targets to Kildare County Council and other local authorities in April 2015, approvals for a substantial number of new social housing projects were announced in May 2015, July 2015 and January 2016. Between these three announcements, almost €680 million has been allocated for over 3,900 social housing new builds, turnkey developments and acquisitions. Details of these project approvals, including for Kildare, are available on my Department’s website at the following links: -

While social housing construction projects are being advanced, acquisitions of new and second-hand houses and apartments remain an effective means of meeting immediate social housing need. In 2015, Kildare County Council secured the purchase of 79 housing units and to date this year, have completed the purchases of a further 47 additional units for social housing purposes. Some of these acquisitions, as well as some of the approved construction projects, were under the Capital Assistance Scheme whereby approved housing bodiesdeliver social housing for those with specific needs such as elderly people, persons with intellectual or physical disability and homeless persons.

In 2015, my Department provided over €12.1 million to Kildare County Council for the delivery of new social housing units, under both construction and acquisition programmes and the figure to date in 2016 is in excess of €8.3 million. In addition to the funding provided by myDepartment, Kildare County Council also contributes significant levels of funding from their own resources for the delivery of units.

The delivery of new social housing units through a public private partnership (PPP) model is also being pursued. The PPP programme will have an investment of €300 million to deliver 1,500 social housing units and it is being rolled-out in three bundles. The first bundle of the PPP sites, to provide over 500 new housing units, was announced in October 2015 and covers six sites, one of which is to deliver some 75 units at Craddockstown, Naas, County Kildare.

The measures in the new Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness will ramp up delivery of housing from its current under-supply across all tenures and provide for new targets, funding and reforms to achieve the plan’s ambitious objectives. The Action Plan is available at www.rebuildingireland.ie.

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