James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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94. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide a report detailing the number of vacant residential units that were returned to active residential use in each local authority after availing of funding from the repair and lease and buy and renew schemes for each year from 2014 to date, in tabular form. [28274/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Living City Initiative is a tax-based measure aimed at the regeneration of the historic inner cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.  

The scheme provides income or corporation tax relief for expenditure on refurbishment and conversion work that is carried out in either residential properties or certain commercial properties.

The Initiative targets particular areas of the cities which are most in need of regeneration, especially inner city areas. These are areas chosen by the relevant councils which are largely comprised of dwellings built before 1915, where there is above average unemployment and which demonstrate clear evidence of neglect, dereliction and under-use.

Revenue advise me that it is not possible to specify the extent to which tax relief under the scheme may have supported qualifying work within each of the local authority areas; and that statistical data are not available on the specific number of vacant residential units that have been returned to active residential use under the Living City Initiative from 2014 to date.

Data in relation to claims for the Living City Initiative are available on the Revenue website for the years 2013 to 2018, the latest year for which fully analysed data are available, at: 

www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/information-about-revenue/statistics/tax-expenditures/property-reliefs.aspx. 

This report will be updated over the coming months with data for both 2019 and 2020. The available data for the scheme are reproduced below:

Living City Initiative

*assumed at 40% for IT and 12.5% for CT.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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95. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update on the recently announced vacant home scheme through local authorities towards renovation and other costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28335/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Housing for All (published in September 2021) provides a new housing plan for Ireland to 2030 with the overall objective that every citizen in the State should have access to good quality homes through a steady supply of housing in the right locations, with economic, social and environmental sustainability built into the system. The strategy sets out, over four pathways, a broad suite of measures to achieve its policy objectives together with a financial commitment of in excess of €4 billion per annum.

The suite of measures under the pathway to addressing vacancy and efficient use of existing stock includes the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund which will be delivered by local authorities for the provision of serviced sites for housing, to attract people to build their own homes and to support the refurbishment of vacant properties, enabling people to live in small towns and villages, in a sustainable way.

Details in relation to the operation of the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund are at an advanced stage of development, including the scope and appropriate timeframes, and it will be launched shortly.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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96. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 741 of 21 April 2021, the number of full-time equivalent vacant homes officers by local authority in tabular form for 2021 and to date in 2022. [28358/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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My Department understand that in 2021 there were in the region of 3 full-time and 34 part-time vacant homes officers working in local authorities. In January 2022, my Department communicated with local authorities outlining that it is increasing the funding made available since 2018 from €50,000 to €60,000 per annum from mid-2022 to support the work of a Vacant Homes Office including a vacant homes officer to support the commitment in Housing for All to ensure that vacant homes officers are full-time. The provision of central funding reinforces the capacity of local authorities, including through the important role of vacant homes officers, to ensure a dedicated focus on tackling vacancy and dereliction with a view to increasing the opportunities for residential development.

Local authorities have been requested to arrange for the vacant homes officer position to become full-time by the end of Q2 2022 and to notify my Department accordingly. I expect that each local authority will have at least one full-time vacant homes officer working in their local authority. Local authorities are continuing with the process of the delivery of the Vacant Homes Officer position on a full-time basis. As this process is ongoing, I will have a full position from local authorities following the delivery timeframe of the end of June .

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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97. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 741 of 21 April 2021, if he receives regular updates on the number of homes applied for through the vacant homes scheme by local authority; and if so, if he will provide the up-to-date figures for 2021 and to date in 2022. [28359/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the Deputy is referring to the Repair and Leasing Scheme, the Buy and Renew Scheme and the Housing Acquisitions Fund.

The Repair and Leasing Scheme is targeted at owners of vacant properties who cannot afford or access the funding needed to bring their properties up to the required standard for rental properties. The scheme provides upfront funding to carry out the works and, in return, the property owner agrees to lease the dwelling to the local authority to be used as social housing for a period up to 25 years. The maximum loan for property repair available under the Repair and Lease Scheme has been increased by my Department from €40,000 to €60,000.

The Buy and Renew Scheme supports local authorities in purchasing and renewing housing units in need of repair, which can then be made available for social housing use. Local authorities have already purchased c.750 homes for social housing use. Nationally, the average cost to deliver one of these homes under the Scheme is c.€196,000 including the cost for the necessary improvement works to the properties.

The Housing Agency Acquisitions Fund is a €70 million revolving that was established in January 2017 with the objective of enabling the Housing Agency to acquire vacant units from banks and investment companies for social housing use.  The fund is replenished by the Housing Agency through the sale of units primarily to the AHB sector and the funds received are then recycled back into the fund for future acquisitions.

The Table below gives a breakdown of the number of properties delivered under each of the schemes in each local authority up to the end of Q4 2021.