Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 April 2024
60. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage what steps his Department is taking to speed up the turnaround time for existing social housing which has been vacated by tenants. [15527/24]
View answerThe 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 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.
An annualised breakdown by local authority of the funding provided and the number of properties remediated under the Voids programme for the years 2014 up to and including 2023 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
The allocation of dwellings and reletting of vacated social dwellings are matters for the local authority concerned, in accordance with their allocation scheme made under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated Regulations.
As a priority under the Housing for All Action Update and Q3 2023 Progress Report, my Department has engaged with key stakeholders in regard to existing data relating to the efficiency of the social and affordable housing allocation process. To further advance this work in line with the Priority Action, my Department has established a working group to identify key actions and measures focused on identifying and standardising best practice and improving data collection. My Department is working with these stakeholders to implement improvements and identify further areas of analysis and examination in this area that are required.
