Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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376. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the provision of social housing at a location (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12650/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are making an important contribution to social housing delivery, as envisaged under current Government policy. My Department operates a number of funding programmes that assist local authorities to work in partnership with AHBs to construct, purchase and lease new homes and make them available for social housing. One such programme, that AHBs progress construction projects through, is the Capital Advance Loan Facility (CALF)

CALF funding is capital support provided to AHBs by local authorities to facilitate the funding of construction, acquisition or refurbishment of new social housing units. This loan facility can support up to 30% of the eligible capital cost of the housing project, with the housing units provided to local authorities for social housing use under long-term lease arrangements known as Payment and Availability Agreements. A nominal interest rate of 2% fixed per annum is charged by the local authority on the initial capital amount.Repayments on either the capital or interest are not required during the term of the loan (between 10 and 30 years), although where an AHB chooses to, repayments can be made during the term. At the end of the term, the outstanding capital amount plus the interest accrued, is owed and repayable to the local authority. The local authority issues the CALF monies to the AHB and the local authority, in turn, recoups same from my Department.

There is a housing project comprising 35 high-quality homes for social housing use, that is being progressed by the AHB, Respond, in the location referred to, working in partnership with Kildare County Council. I can confirm that my Department issued a CALF approval for this construction project in May 2020. This project has an indicative completion date of December 2022. As with all construction projects in the current COVID 19 climate, delivery programmes and timelines are under constant review.

My Department publishes a quarterly Social Housing Construction Projects Status Report, which sets out the continuing progress being made in advancing the national local authority and AHB new-build pipeline. The latest report, setting out the position at end Q4 2020, can be accessed at the following weblink:

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Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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377. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount of funding his Department has provided to voluntary housing associations based in County Kildare to maintain and upgrade their social housing stock over the past three years by AHB, location and amount in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12651/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department operates a number of funding programmes that assist local authorities to work in partnership with Approved Housing Bodies to construct, purchase or lease new homes and make them available for social housing.

This funding is underpinned by either mortgage agreements, capital advance agreements, leases or Payment & Availability agreements, which set out the terms and conditions of the funding and the specific responsibilities the Approved Housing Body has for the properties and their tenants.

Where an Approved Housing Body has purchased or constructed a property that is in their ownership, the responsibility for management and maintenance of that property is a matter for them to meet, in most cases, from their own income. This income is derived, in the main, from a combination of rent payments from the tenant and monthly payments made by the local authority to the Approved Housing Bodies in accordance with a Payment & Availability agreement which is in place for each of these properties.

The main area in which specific management and maintenance fees are provided to Approved Housing Bodies relates to properties delivered via the now closed Capital Loan & Subsidy Scheme (CLSS). The table below sets out the funding made available by my Department to Kildare County Council over the last 3 years, for provision to Approved Housing Bodies for the management and maintenance of their CLSS-funded properties.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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378. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the current review status of income eligibility for social housing supports in each local authority and in particular, Cork County Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12673/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended.

The 2011 Regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority, in different bands according to the area concerned, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy. The 2011 Regulations do not provide local authorities with any discretion to exceed the limits that apply to their administrative areas.

Under the Household Means Policy, which applies in all local authorities, net income for social housing assessment is defined as gross household income less income tax, PRSI, Universal Social Charge and Pension-Related Deductions within the meaning of Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009. The Policy provides for a range of income disregards, and local authorities also have discretion to decide to disregard income that is temporary, short-term or once-off in nature.

The income bands are expressed in terms of a maximum net income threshold for a single-person household, with an allowance of 5% for each additional adult household member, subject to a maximum allowance under this category of 10%; and 2.5% for each child, subject to a maximum allowance under this category of 10%.

The income bands and the authority area assigned to each band were based on an assessment of the income needed to provide for a household's basic needs, plus a comparative analysis of the local rental cost of housing accommodation across the country. It is important to note that the limits introduced in 2011 also reflected a blanket increase of €5,000 introduced prior to the new system coming into operation, in order to broaden the base from which social housing tenants are drawn, both promoting sustainable communities and also providing a degree of future-proofing.

Given the cost to the State of providing social housing, it is considered prudent and fair to direct resources to those most in need of social housing support. The current income eligibility requirements generally achieve this, providing for a fair and equitable system of identifying those households facing the greatest challenge in meeting their accommodation needs from their own resources.

However, as part of the broader social housing reform agenda, a review of income eligibility for social housing supports in each local authority area is underway. The review will have regard to current initiatives being brought forward in terms of affordability and cost rental and will be completed when the impacts of these parallel initiatives have been considered.