Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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396. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the policy of all local authorities in relation to persons on their social housing waiting lists is to remove them from these lists if they at any stage during their time on the list exceed the income thresholds applicable; if so, if the policy is uniformly applied across all local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36981/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The oversight and management of the lists of qualified households awaiting accommodation, including the allocation and transfer of tenancies, is a matter for the relevant local authority in accordance with Sections 20 and 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated Social Housing Assessment and Allocation Regulations, respectively.

Under Regulation 28 of the Assessment Regulations, a household’s qualification for support may be reviewed at the discretion of a local authority and Regulation 29 provides that the household’s qualification for support shall be reassessed at the point of allocation of support. If upon review, a household is found to exceed the limits on income eligibility grounds, for example, they would be removed from the list.

Furthermore, authorities are also required, when directed by the Minister, to undertake a statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA) to count the number of households on the waiting list for social housing supports whose need has not yet been met. The SSHA process requires all local authorities to review those households who are on their housing list but who are not currently in receipt of housing support.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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397. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if approved housing bodies have the authority to decide if they will house tenants sent to them from the local authority social housing waiting lists following an interview with the perspective tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36982/20]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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399. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the criteria used by approved housing bodies to allocate housing units in developments over which they operate which are not available to the local authority in their area for housing tenants from the social housing waiting lists; if these units are subject to any control or oversight by his Department in terms of rents levied or tenancy agreements entered into; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36984/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 397 and 399 together.

Households wishing to obtain social housing support from a local authority or an approved housing body must first apply to the relevant local authority for a social housing assessment. Where the household is deemed qualified for support it is placed on the housing authority’s waiting list, and offers of suitable accommodation are made in accordance with the authority’s allocation scheme as they arise.

The allocation scheme is made by the elected members under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and in compliance with Social Housing Allocation Regulations made thereunder, and specifies, among other things, the manner of, and the order of priority for, the allocation of dwellings to households on the housing and transfer lists. Under section 22, an allocation scheme shall apply to dwellings owned or under the control of a local authority, as well as dwellings provided by approved housing bodies (AHBs) with Exchequer funding.

Where a vacancy arises in a dwelling owned by an AHB, the relevant local authority may nominate suitable households from its housing or transfer list to that body, having regard to the order of priority set out in its allocation scheme.  

Such nomination rights are linked to the provision of funding by my Department under its capital and current funding schemes for social housing. The rules in this regard are set down in my Department's memorandum on Capital Funding Schemes for the Provision of Rental Accommodation by Approved Housing Bodies (Voluntary and Co - Operative Rental Housing) of May 2002, and related circulars, and the relevant Payment and Availability Agreements in force.  AHBs may also, in consultation with the relevant local authority, make their own nominations for a proportion of tenancies in accordance with the relevant funding rules for tenancies in a housing project funded under a capital scheme.

AHBs are independent, not for profit organisations. Those AHBs that are signed up to the Voluntary Regulation Code (which includes all the large and growth AHBs ) must abide by the Code and associated standards. One such standard is the Performance Standard which sets out that AHBs are expected to have tenant service policies and management procedures establishing the roles and responsibilities of both the tenant and the landlord throughout the life of the tenancy agreement, from commencement to termination.

If an AHB is in receipt of funding under a relevant Exchequer funding scheme, they must comply with the terms and conditions of that scheme. Under such funding schemes (made available through local authorities), the AHB is required to make the property available for social renting for the duration of the mortgage or, as the case may be, the availability agreement. 

It is a matter for the governing board of an individual AHB to determine how property, which is solely owned by the AHB without any mortgage or debt funding in place, is allocated to tenants in accordance with their constitution. All AHB tenancies are registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and therefore this channel should be the primary recourse in terms of procedures in any tenant/landlord matters.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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398. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of housing units provided by approved housing bodies for social housing of those on local authority social housing waiting lists in each of the years since 2015; the total number of housing units provided by approved housing bodies since 2015, that is, units built, purchased, leased and so on by these bodies which are not made available to the local authority for the purposes of housing persons on the social housing waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36983/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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There are two primary funding mechanisms provided by my Department to facilitate the delivery of properties for social housing purposes by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs).

Under the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS), funding of up to 100% of project costs may be advanced by local authorities to AHBs to provide accommodation for people with specific needs. The persons being housed must be assessed by the local authorities as in need of housing (a loan of 95% may be advanced where the AHB chooses to retain the right to nominate 25% of tenancies).

My Department also provides financial support to AHBs in the form of a long term loan under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) to assist with the financing of the construction or acquisition of units that will be provided for social housing use.  This loan facility can support up to 30% of the eligible capital cost of the project, where the units will be provided by the AHB under long-term lease arrangements (known as Payment and Availability Agreements and funded by the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) to local authorities for social housing use.

Both schemes are administered by local authorities, and funding advanced to AHBs is subsequently recouped from my Department in line with the terms and conditions of the relevant scheme.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on all social housing delivery, including AHB delivery. This is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: .