Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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368. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the extent to which he expects local authorities to refurbish void houses in the coming year thereby alleviating the threat of homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28799/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966.

Since 2014, Exchequer funding has been provided through my Department's Voids Programme to supplement local authority spending in this area. . One of the key objectives of the Voids Programme is to provide local authorities with funding to help minimise the turnaround and re-let time of vacant units.

As announced in the July Stimulus Programme, additional funding of €40m has been made available in relation to Voids for 2020 which will see an additional 2,500 vacant properties remediated and allocated this year. This funding has been provided in recognition of the very challenging financial circumstances which local authorities are experiencing and the very real risk that the vacant homes, which would normally be refurbished by local authorities using their own resources, would be significantly impacted in 2020. In order to ensure quick turnaround of these properties the work schedules being funded relate primarily to those works required to ensure compliance with the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, 2019.

The specific allocation for the Voids programme in 2021 will be determined in the context of the ongoing Budget discussions