Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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230. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the funding of €2.72 million to bring 74 vacant local authority houses back into use will be provided by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3849/23]

Darragh 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. Local authorities also have a legal obligation to ensure that all of their tenanted properties are compliant with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, 2019.

Since 2014, Exchequer funding has also been provided through my Department's Voids Programme to supplement the local authority funding available for the preparation of vacant properties for re-letting. The funding was introduced originally to tackle long term vacant units and is now increasingly targeted to support authorities to ensure minimal turnaround and re-let times for vacant stock.

From 2014 to 2021, expenditure of some €261 million was recouped to local authorities under the Voids Programme which funded the return to productive use of 18,527 properties nationwide. Local authorities also provide significant funding from their own resources to address the level of vacancy within the social housing stock.

Under the 2022 Voids Programme, funding of €25 million was made available across the local authorities for the remediation of 2,273 properties. Details in relation to 2022 outturn will be available on the link below presently.

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

My Department will continue to support local authorities in their work in this area. Funding allocations under the 2023 Programme will be announced early in 2023.

My Department and local authorities are also 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.