Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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758. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to enable tenants of voluntary housing bodies to purchase their homes similar to the tenant purchase scheme for local authority tenants in view of the fact the housing provided by the voluntary housing bodies is funded principally by the taxpayer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53125/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015, provide the basis for the current Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme, which came into operation on 1 January 2016, which allows local authorities to sell local authority owned dwellings to existing social housing tenants. The Scheme does not extend to houses owned by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) as the ownership of these properties remains with the AHB concerned.

Under the terms of the various funding schemes supporting the delivery of social housing by AHBs, AHBs are the legal owners of the properties and must make them available for social renting for the duration of the mortgage or, as the case may be, the availability agreement. My Department cannot unilaterally make provision for their sale to tenants. Any such decision would have to involve the AHB and have regard to the mortgage on the property. On expiry of the mortgage period and subject to compliance with the terms of the funding agreement, the AHB becomes the owner of the property.

However, Section 45 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 does provide for the sale by local authorities and AHBs of designated new houses to eligible households, subject to specified terms and conditions set down in the Act and associated Regulations (The Housing (Incremental Purchase) Regulations 2010- S.I 252 of 2010). However, any such sales would have to be progressed by the AHBs in conjunction with the relevant local authority concerned. Neither my Department or myself has any role in the process.

There are currently no plans to introduce a general  tenant purchase scheme, analogous to the 2015 Scheme in operation for local authority tenants, for tenants of houses owned by AHBs.  

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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759. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of homes provided in each local authority area in each of the years 2011 to 2018 by voluntary housing bodies; the funding provided to the sector on an annual basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53126/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Approved Housing Bodies play an increasingly integral role in the delivery of social homes across the country. Over the period 2011 to 2018 more than 11,000 new social homes have been delivered by Approved Housing Bodies and last year 38% of all the social homes delivered by the Rebuilding Ireland were delivered in partnership with Approved Housing Bodies. 

As delivery has grown so too has the range of delivery mechanisms utilised by AHBs to deliver social homes. Detailed statistics in relation to the number of social housing homes that have been delivered by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) under the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS),  Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF), AHB Mortgage to Rent Scheme (MTR) and Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP), are published and available on my Department's website at the following link:

http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/social-housing/social-and-affordable/overall-social-housing-provision.  

Specifically in relation to the number of social housing homes provided by AHBs, the table below provides details of additional AHB delivery across all delivery streams over the period 2011 to 2018.  

The funding for these AHB delivery schemes is provided by my Department directly to the local authorities which, in turn, provide the funding to AHBs as appropriate. 

Output by AHBs has almost quadrupled over the period 2011 to 2018 and funding to AHBs has tripled over the same period, from €103.16m in 2011 to 337.69m in 2018.