Written answers

Tuesday, 8 December 2020

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Vacant Properties

Photo of Paul McAuliffePaul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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276. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the progress to date in expanding the role of vacant homes officers in local authorities and support local authorities to bring vacant stock into productive use as outlined in the Programme for Government. [41447/20]

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Since 2018, and the publication of the National Vacant Housing Reuse Strategy, my Department has secured funding of €50,000 per annum for each local authority to support the work of a Vacant Homes Office, including a Vacant Homes Officer for each local authority. This Strategy strives to provide a targeted, effective and co-ordinated approach to identifying and tackling vacancy across Ireland.

The activities of the Vacant Homes Officers are already comprehensive; any expansion of their current role will be carefully reviewed and targeted and will reflect the Government’s commitment to bringing vacant properties back into use across the country.

The current role of the Vacant Homes Officer is wide ranging and includes, but is not limited to;

- tasks that support, implement and further develop, update, monitor and review the progress of local authorities’ Vacant Homes Action Plans and actions to address vacant private housing,

- stablishing a co-ordinated approach towards the implementation of the Action Plans within each local authority,

- undertaking initial vacancy assessment exercise (drilling into available CSO / GeoDirectory data),

- carrying out or co-ordinating visual inspections / assessment of residential properties in their administrative area, with a view to identifying possible vacant recoverable homes,

- identification of the registered owners of the properties deemed to be vacant from inspection, and contacting the owners on the options available to assist in bringing their properties back into use for private or social housing purposes,

- serving as a contact point for dissemination of assistance and information to members of the public (including landlords), on residential vacancy and the schemes available to re-introduce their homes into the usable housing stock,

- serving as a contact point for dissemination to interested parties of the ‘Guidance on the Reuse of Existing Buildings for Residential purposes’ (published in December 2018); and

- the collation and provision of vacant homes data to my Department.

There are a number of supporting schemes available to assist property owners to bring their vacant properties back into use for social housing – the Repair & Lease Scheme, the Buy and Renew Scheme or Long Term Leasing.  The maximum loan for property repair available under the Repair and Leases scheme has recently been increased by my Department from €40,000 to €60,000.  This funding increase will mean that property owners who cannot afford or access funding to bring their vacant stock up to standard and back into use will be able to do so to provide social housing. It has an added benefit of increasing investment and employment into the local construction and retail sectors while also providing for the regeneration of local communities.

The Vacant Homes Unit in my Department recently ran an advertising campaign in national newspapers directed at owners of vacant properties alerting them to the vacant homes schemes available. On foot of this , the Vacant Homes Unit received a very strong response from the public, and as a result many Vacant Homes Officers are currently in the process of engaging with the owners of potentially suitable properties to be brought back into use.

My Department will continue to keep the Vacant Homes Schemes and the various functions of the Vacant Homes Offices under review with ongoing feedback from our Vacant Homes Officers.

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