Written answers

Tuesday, 6 December 2022

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Provision

Photo of Jim O'CallaghanJim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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214. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the total number of commencement notices for new residential homes received; number of new housing completions and new planning permissions granted by county since 27 June 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60292/22]

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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A Commencement Notice is a notification to a Building Control Authority that a person intends to carry out either works or a Material Change of Use to which the Building Regulations apply. The notice must be given to the authority not more than 28 days and not less than 14 days before the commencement of works or the change of use.  Once validated by the building control authority, works must commence on site within the 28 day period.  The total number of commencement notices for new residential homes that have been received since the formation of the Government on a county-by-county basis in tabular form can be found on my Department’s website, at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/a5cb1-construction-activity-starts/ 

My Department does not compile data on the number of new housing completions and on new planning permissions granted on a monthly basis. Planning statistics are compiled by each planning authority on an annual basis for collation and publication on my Department’s website, at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/service/9e4ee-get-planning-statistics/ .

However, the data collected relates to the total number of applications and decisions for all developments that require planning permission, broken down by year and planning authority but are not broken down by development type, including the number of planning permissions for residential homes. Such information may be sought directly from the relevant planning authority.

In addition, the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical office, compiles and makes available detailed data on a number of planning related issues including permissions granted and completions by development type and county.  Data is available at the following link on the CSO website: www.cso.ie/en/statistics/construction/planningpermissions/.

The number of new housing completions granted can also be found on the CSO website, at the following link: www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-ndc/newdwellingcompletionsq32022/ 

Photo of Jim O'CallaghanJim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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215. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the total number of new local authority homes added to the social housing stock by county since 27 June 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60293/22]

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency.

Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes; 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing and 28,500 new affordable homes in the period 2022-2026. 

My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity in all local authorities. This data is available until the end of Quarter 2 2022 and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/ . 

The below table shows the Social Housing Delivery by local authority from Q3 2020 to end Q2 2022.

Local Authority New Build Acquisition Leasing Total
Carlow County Council 318 55 84 457
Cavan County Council 102 23 26 151
Clare County Council 296 122 84 502
Cork City Council 407 140 217 764
Cork County Council 932 75 99 1,106
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council 393 48 106 547
Donegal County Council 190 38 56 284
Dublin City Council 828 611 946 2,385
Fingal County Council 648 128 371 1,147
Galway City Council 333 94 25 452
Galway County Council 250 30 50 330
Kerry County Council 467 21 103 591
Kildare County Council 821 148 390 1,359
Kilkenny County Council 329 91 56 476
Laois County Council 239 56 54 349
Leitrim County Council 57 21 11 89
Limerick City and County Council 401 45 151 597
Longford County Council 110 63 38 211
Louth County Council 511 54 155 720
Mayo County Council 107 27 195 329
Meath County Council 564 71 171 806
Monaghan County Council 162 66 22 250
Offaly County Council 140 23 84 247
Roscommon County Council 105 23 50 178
Sligo County Council 65 18 20 103
South Dublin County Council 649 65 345 1,059
Tipperary County Council 250 54 82 386
Waterford City and County Council 365 58 280 703
Westmeath County Council 165 37 128 330
Wexford County Council 463 53 106 622
Wicklow County Council 631 74 152 857
TOTALS 11,298 2,432 4,657 18,387

Photo of Jim O'CallaghanJim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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216. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the total number of local authority homes that have been brought back into use under the Voids programme by county since 27 June 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60294/22]

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966.

Since 2014, Exchequer funding has also been provided through my Department's Voids Programme to support local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-letting. This funding was initially introduced to tackle long term vacant units and is now increasingly targeted at ensuring minimal turnaround and re-let times for local authority vacant stock. 

An annualised breakdown by local authority of the funding provided and the number of properties remediated under the Voids programme for the years 2014-2021 is available on my Department's website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/collection/0906a-other-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/#voids-programme

Under the 2022 Voids Programme, funding of €25 million has been made available across the local authorities for the remediation of 2,273 properties. Full details of the 2022 Voids outturn will be published early in 2023. 

Given the very significant investment into the Voids Programme over recent years local authorities should now be in a strong position to begin the transition to a strategic and informed planned maintenance approach to stock management and maintenance.

To that end, my Department and local authorities are working to transition from a largely response and voids based approach to housing stock management and maintenance, to a planned maintenance approach as referenced in Housing for All, policy objective 20.6. This will require the completion of stock condition surveys by all local authorities and the subsequent development of strategic and informed work programmes in response. My Department will support these work programmes by ensuring that the funding available under the various stock improvement programmes is aligned with this approach.  

In this regard, a further €5 million in funding has been ring-fenced for Planned Maintenance under this years Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme to support the implementation of an ICT asset management system for the local authority sector and to provide a funding contribution for the commencement of stock condition surveys.

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