In accordance with Section 58 of the Housing Act, 1966 Local Authorities are legally responsible for the management and maintenance of their housing stock including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a Planned Maintenance Programme and carrying out of responsive repairs. 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.
Notwithstanding this, my Department provides annual funding support of c. €200m to Local Authorities under a number of stock improvement programmes, namely, the Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme, the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme, the Disabled Person Grants and programmes of Regeneration.
The detailed administration of the schemes including assessment, approval and prioritisation of works is a matter for each local authority.
Given the very significant Exchequer investment into the Programmes over recent years local authorities are now in a strong position to transition to a strategic and informed planned maintenance approach to stock management and maintenance.
To that end, my Department and local authorities are continuing to progress 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.
