Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 December 2025
325. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to schemes such as the town and village renewal grant, if local authorities may use, or support applicants to use, such schemes to bring vacant or derelict residential units or voids back into productive use;; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67513/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra326. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline all current funding streams, capital supports, and operational supports made available by his Department to local authorities for the purpose of returning vacant or derelict local authority homes to use voids, including approvals, drawdown mechanisms, turnaround targets, and auditing arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67514/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra327. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department maintains any form of benchmarking, comparative performance assessment, league table, or KPI-based ranking of local authorities in respect of their management of vacant/void social housing units, including turnaround times, cost per unit, and annual throughput; and if such information exists, if he will publish it; and if not, the reason such comparative evaluation is not undertaken. [67515/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra328. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of local authority dwellings classified as void, by each local authority in each of the past five years; the number returned to use annually; the average cost of remediation per dwelling; the mean and median turnaround time; the value of Departmental funding drawn down for this purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67516/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra329. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has examined the feasibility of aligning private-sector vacant property grants with local authority programmes for returning voids to use; and if not, if such alignment will now be considered. [67517/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra330. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has carried out any analysis comparing the cost, speed, and long-term maintenance outcomes of returning void social housing units to use versus alternative interventions such as acquisition, leasing, or new build; and if he will publish any such analysis to inform future policy choices. [67518/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 325 to 330, inclusive, together.
The management and maintenance of local authority social homes, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, implementing a planned maintenance programme and carrying out responsive repairs, are matters for each local authority under s.58 of the Housing Act 1966. Local authorities are also required to ensure all tenanted homes comply with the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019.
Notwithstanding these obligations, my Department provides annual funding under the Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme to support local authorities in this regard. From 2014 to the end of 2024, almost 26,000 vacant social homes have been brought back to productive use through investment of more than €361m. An annualised breakdown by local authority of the funding provided and the number of properties remediated under the Voids programme is available at www.gov.ie/en/collection/0906a-other-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/#voids-programme.
Some €31 million will be provided in 2025, supporting the refurbishment and re-letting of at least 1,900 social homes, facilitating the quick turnaround of casual vacancies and continuing the transition from a reactive voids approach to a planned maintenance approach. Data on delivery under the 2025 Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme will be available early next year.
Critically, funding from my Department for planned maintenance and the quick turnaround of casual vacancies is intended to complement local authority own funding. It does not substitute for adequate provision for housing maintenance by local authority officials and elected members as part of the annual budgetary process.
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 dwellings is an ongoing process.
While data regarding the number of voids are not routinely collated by my Department, statistics in relation to social homes, 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 in local authority owned properties. The most recent report relating to 2024 is available at www.noac.ie/noac_publications/report-77-noac-performance-indicator-report-2024/.
Data regarding the number of social homes classified as voids and the average cost of remediating dwellings should be sought directly from local authorities.
My Department has not examined the feasibility of aligning local authority programmes with the private sector vacant property grant. Similarly, an analysis of the cost, speed and long-term maintenance outcomes versus acquiring, leasing or building social homes has not been undertaken. The imperative at present is to maximise the quantum of social housing available to households from all sources, including the quick turnaround of all casually vacant social homes.
A new planned maintenance and repairs programme will be introduced in 2026, focusing on a prompt turnaround and re-letting of vacant homes and only those works necessary to ensure compliance with the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. This approach, coupled with a continued transition to planned maintenance will minimise the works required when homes become vacant and secure the most cost effective and prompt turnaround of vacant local authority homes.
