Written answers

Tuesday, 13 December 2016

Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government

Housing Agency Portfolio

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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243. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the reason for the low take-up of house purchases by the Housing Agency from banks (details supplied) as detailed in Parliamentary Question No. 145 of 1 December 2016; and if he will provide additional funding to the Housing Agency to increase the number of these properties to be purchased as a matter of urgency. [39725/16]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Housing Agency currently acts as a central co-ordination body at national level for banks/investors to interact with. This activity began in early 2015 and to date has yielded 174 properties across 29 local authorities at a total value of over €25m. Rebuilding Ireland, the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, provides for a new acquisitions initiative under which the Housing Agency is to be provided directly with capital funding with the specific focus of engaging with banks and investment companies to acquire properties for social housing nationally, thereby increasing social housing delivery. Under this acquisitions programme, the Agency will use a rotating fund of €70m, which was provided for in Budget 2017, to acquire vacant properties in areas with high levels of social housing demand.

In doing this, the Agency will work in close consultation with local authorities to ensure that suitable properties are only purchased in areas where there is a demand for social housing. It is estimated that this mechanism, implementation of which is already underway, will deliver some 1,600 units over the period to 2020.

In relation to properties that have been forwarded for consideration from banks to date, some of these properties were deemed unsuitable for different reasons including quality, price limits, and location. In respect of the 500+ vacant properties forwarded by AIB for consideration by the Agency at the end of November 2016, approximately 55% were of interest to the local authorities concerned. However, local authorities were still reviewing some of the property information provided to them by the Agency so that proportion may increase.

Details of the progress under this initiative will be outlined in future Rebuilding Irelandquarterly progress reports.

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