Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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437. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if a person who has inherited an old derelict house which requires renovation can avail of the home renovation incentive scheme and on completion of renovations subsequently hand the house over to the local authority for that person to rent the same house from the local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19303/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Pillar 5 of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness is specifically focused on utilising existing housing stock, with a key objective of ensuring that houses throughout the country and across all forms of tenure, in both the public and private sectors, are used to the optimum degree possible.

The Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) has been developed under Pillar 5 to assist private property owners and local authorities or Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to harness the accommodation potential that exists in certain vacant properties across Ireland. The scheme is targeted at owners of vacant properties who cannot afford or access the funding needed to bring their properties up to the required standard for rental property. Subject to the suitability of the property for social housing, and the agreement of the property owner, the cost of the necessary repairs - up to a maximum of €40,000 - will be met upfront by the relevant local authority or an Approved Housing Body (AHB). As part of the agreement, the property owner then leases the dwelling to the local authority for use as social housing for a length that is linked to the value of the repairs but subject to a minimum of 10 years. The value of the repairs is offset incrementally against the agreed rental payment over a defined period within the lease.

Other initiatives to utilise vacant housing stock for social housing include the Buy and Renew Scheme. The full details of this scheme are being finalised and will be communicated to local authorities shortly. Prospective housing units for the scheme will need to be suitable for social housing use, in an area of need and to represent reasonable value for money.

Where the owner of a vacant property wishes to avail of the Repair and Leasing Scheme or the Buy and Renew Scheme, they should contact their local authority. Furthermore, if a property owner wishes to explore making their property available to a local authority for social housing use using a range of other lease or rental options, they should similarly contact their local authority. In every case, a property secured for social housing use by a local authority, by way of a lease or rental agreement, is allocated to a household on a local authority waiting list in accordance with that local authority's scheme of letting priorities.

I have no function in the Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) Scheme, which is administered by the Revenue Commissioners and comes within the remit of my colleague the Minister for Finance.