Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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315. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the steps being taken, and the support being offered, by his Department, to local authorities to hasten the turnaround of void and vacant local authority housing making them available for use by housing applicants. [53730/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, is a matter for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. Local authorities also have a legal obligation to ensure all their tenanted properties are compliant with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019.

Notwithstanding, my Department provides annual funding support to local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-let under the Voids Programme. This funding is provided to support local authorities in their efforts to manage their housing stock efficiently. It is intended as a supplement to and not a substitute for adequate annual funding provision by local authorities for management and maintenance of their housing stock as part of their annual budgetary process.

The emphasis of the programme is on those refurbishment works necessary to comply with the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 to ensure quick turnaround and re-letting times. Desirable works at the time of vacancy should be deferred and carried out under planned maintenance over the lifecycle of the asset. Where a local authority chooses to do works over and above those which are necessary to comply with the rental standards it can impact re-let times and result in additional costs for the local authority.

I met with all local authorities Chief Executives and Directors of Housing earlier this year at the Housing Summit where the issue of vacancy and allocation of housing was discussed. As part of the Programme for Government, consideration is being given to the introduction of a new Voids Programme with a view to further improve turnaround times of vacant social housing units. I and my Department will continue to engage with the sector on this important issue.