Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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669. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the process for purchasing NAMA-owned properties in particular derelict vacant units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40028/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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There has been an ongoing engagement between my Department, the Housing Agency and the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) since 2011 to identify properties from the NAMA loan portfolio that would be suitable for social housing. In 2011, a Steering Group was established to identify properties that would be suitable for social housing.  Once demand was confirmed, NAMA facilitated delivery, through its debtors or receivers, by way of either direct sale or lease to a local authority or an Approved Housing Body (AHBs). 

In order to expedite delivery, NAMA also established a special purpose vehicle, National Asset Residential Property Services DAC (NARPS) in July 2012, which operates by purchasing properties from NAMA’s debtors and receivers and making them immediately available to local authorities or AHBs through a standardised long-term lease. 

Since 2011, over 2,600 properties have been made available for social housing from the NAMA portfolio. NAMA’s social housing programme continues to move towards completion in line with the orderly wind-down of the Agency.