John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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641. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to encourage or incentivise local authorities to use their compulsory purchase order, CPO, powers to buy up derelict or vacant houses in order to increase their social housing stock; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47132/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides funding to local authorities to acquire a range of properties for social housing use, including properties that are vacant and in need of remediation. To ensure a local-led response to such work, responsibility for property acquisitions is delegated to local authorities.

Local authorities are encouraged to adopt a proactive approach in utilising their available legislative powers for compulsory purchase, where necessary, with the aim of bringing the greatest number of recoverable long term vacant dwellings back into the liveable housing stock. In many cases, however, the use of CPO powers is not necessary as agreement to purchase can be reached between the local authority and the property owner. To assist local authorities in pursuing vacant properties, my Department introduced the Buy & Renew Scheme to facilitate them in acquiring and remediating vacant properties that may be suitable for social housing. Through this support mechanism, local authorities have delivered almost 200 social housing units to date and I am keen to see further delivery in this way.

As with standard acquisitions, local authorities have delegated responsibility to utilise the Buy & Renew Scheme, as part of the blend of property acquisitions, as appropriate to their area, given housing need and the availability of properties of different types.