Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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675. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of properties which have applied for the repair and leasing scheme; the number of properties accepted into the scheme in County Donegal since its inception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43194/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) was initially piloted in Carlow and Waterford and the pilot has been rolled out nationally since 23 February 2017. The scheme is one of a suite of measures available to local authorities to bring vacant properties back into use. Since the national roll out, my Department has been working intensively with local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHB's) to develop and implement the scheme. There have been a number of national and local press advertising initiatives, as well as targeted online promotion, in an effort to ensure that property owners who can benefit from the scheme are aware of the benefits.

Data for Donegal County Council for end Q2 2018, is set out in the table. My Department is currently gathering data from local authorities in order to report progress in Quarter 3.

Feedback from local authorities indicates that in many cases properties requiring extensive repair work and therefore not suitable for the RLS, have been secured under the Buy and Renew Scheme which facilitates local authorities or AHB's to purchase vacant properties for social housing use.

It was clear from end 2017 output, that RLS has not yet delivered the level of new social housing homes envisaged. The operation of the scheme was reviewed, as part of the review of Rebuilding Ireland, and it was concluded that the scheme has significant potential but there are areas where it can be improved to make it more attractive and effective. Accordingly, from 1 February 2018, a number of key changes were being made to the scheme.

These include:

- a reduction in the minimum lease term required from 10 to 5 years;

- increasing the proportion of market rent available to property owners where they take on more responsibilities under the tenancy, meaning that up to 92% of market rent will be available; and

- provision of additional funding for property owners, over and above the current €40,000 limit, where the dwelling is a bedsit type dwelling being brought into compliance with the Standards for Rented Houses Regulations and made available for social housing.

National data for RLS up to end Q2 2018 has shown an increase in the number of applications although given the lead in time of at least 6 months for most applications, it is probable that the true impact of the recent changes to the scheme will not become apparent until towards the end of the year. Over recent months, local authorities have indicated that the changes have been well received by property owners.