Written answers

Monday, 9 September 2024

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Vacant Properties

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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842.To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacant or void local authority houses in each local authority at the beginning of 2024; the number of these that have been refurbished since; the allocation to each local authority this year for remediation of such properties; whether any of the local authorities could spend further funds on this work this year as it can be a quick and cost effective way of increasing the number of local authority houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35037/24]

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.

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. Local authority officials and elected members have a very important role to play in this regard by making adequate budgetary provision for housing repairs and cyclical maintenance utilising the significant housing rental income available to them as part of the annual budgetary process.

Notwithstanding this, my Department provides annual funding support to local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-let under the Voids Programme. This 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.

My Department has approved €31 million in funding to support the return of 2,300 vacant local authority homes this year. This funding coupled with the ring-fencing of rental incomes as part of the budgetary provision should be considered sufficient to support the remediation of vacant units this year. A submission has been received from each of the 31 local authorities under this Programme, with the selection of these properties a matter for the individual local authority.

Work in relation to the 2024 Programmes is ongoing, however, it will be later this year before significant recoupment claims are lodged with my Department. Full details in relation to 2024 output under this programme will be published on my Department’s website early in 2025.

Furthermore, local authorities will always have a level of vacancy in their housing stock. This will fluctuate over time, as tenancy surrender and re-letting of stock is an ongoing process. Therefore, ongoing data in relation to vacant local authority owned homes are not routinely collated by my Department.

However, statistics in relation to social housing stock, at a point in time, are published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in their Annual Reports on Performance Indicators in Local Authorities. These reports provide a range of information in relation to social housing stock, including levels of vacancy and average turnaround times for re-letting local authority owned properties. The most recent report, relating to 2022, is available on the NOAC website at the following link:

www.noac.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/20231009-NOAC-PI-Report-2022-FINAL.pdf

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