Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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295. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of voided properties which have been refurbished and relet by each local authority from 2013 to date in 2016. [37512/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The routine turnaround of vacant social housing stock is a matter for each local authority. However my Department in 2014 introduced a new target-driven and cost effective Voids Retrofitting Programme. The key objective of this revised programme is to return targeted vacant stock to a lettable, energy efficient condition at a reasonable cost. My Department’s funding is to support the authorities in tackling those houses that may require a greater level of remediation than the normal level of pre-letting repairs that is the responsibility of local authorities as part of their ongoing repair and maintenance of local authority housing. Funding is given on the condition that the re-letting of vacant social housing units is achieved with minimal delay.

The table sets out the details in tabular form the numbers returned to productive under the programme in 2014 and 2015 and details of the allocations for 2016.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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296. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the average time taken by each local authority to refurbish and relet properties including houses purchased by local authorities. [37513/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The time taken by local authorities to refurbish and re-let properties varies significantly depending on the condition of each property and whether it is an existing social house that is being refurbished after becoming vacant, or a newly acquired, second-hand house. In the latter category, local authorities acquire houses that range in condition from those that require minimal refurbishment prior to re-letting, to those that may be largely derelict and require extensive refurbishment and building works. It is appropriate that local authorities have the scope to acquire all types of second-hand properties, from those that can be made available for early letting to those that require considerable refurbishment. Given the range of different scenarios that are faced by local authorities when acquiring houses, my Department does not collect statistics on the time they take for refurbishment. In all scenarios, it is important that local authorities undertake the works as swiftly as possible and my Department continues to provide the necessary funding to support such situations.

Statistics in relation to re-letting times for existing social houses that are refurbished after becoming vacant are published by the National Oversight & Audit Commission and the most recently available statistics, in respect of 2015, are available at the following link:.

These statistics show the average time from date of vacation of a dwelling to the date when a new tenancy had commenced. This is different from the time taken to refurbish a dwelling and other factors will impact on the time taken to re-let a social house, in particular the possibility of offers for houses being refused.