Government vacant housing schemes have failed - Eoin Ó Broin TD - Sinn Fein
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Eoin Ó Broin TD
SINN FÉIN SPOKESPERSON ON HOUSING
Government
vacant housing
schemes have failed
MARCH 2021
2
Too many vacant homes
The 2016 census estimated that there were 183,000 vacant homes, not including
holiday homes, across the state.
The Geo Directories residential buildings report for Q 4 of 2020 published in
January this year stated that the average vacancy rate in Ireland in December
2020 was 4.6%, which equates to 92,251 homes.1
According to this report Leitrim 14.5% continued to have the highest vacancy
w Residential Q4 2020 rate, with Dublin having the lowest vacancy rate at 1.6% but was the only county
position of Housing to recordStock
an increase in the average vacancy rate compared to December 2019.
cy rates Figure 6: Vacancy Rate (%) by County, December 2020
DUBLIN
erage vacancy rate* 1.6%
KILDARE
the State was 4.6% in 2.0%
WICKLOW 2.5% 4.6%
mber 2020, representing STATE
WATERFORD 2.9%
ginal decline of 0.2 ppts AVERAGE
VACANCY RATE
LOUTH 3.1%
is the corresponding rate
KILKENNY 3.2%
ago. WEXFORD 3.3%
e being the only county in MEATH 3.3%
the vacancy rate increased CARLOW 3.3%
ppts), Dublin continued to LAOIS 3.7%
he lowest vacancy rate at CORK 4.0%
followed by Kildare (2.0%) and OFFALY 4.4%
ow (2.5%). All three counties WESTMEATH 4.9%
thin the Greater Dublin Area. LIMERICK 4.9%
m recorded the highest vacancy MONAGHAN 5.9%
14.5%, albeit this represented TIPPERARY 6.1%
decrease of 0.8 ppts. GALWAY 6.2%
Leitrim, Roscommon (12.6%) CLARE 6.4%
ayo (12.2%) registered the CAVAN 8.4%
ghest vacancy rates. All three LONGFORD 8.8%
es are in Connacht, the province KERRY 9.1%
had the highest vacancy SLIGO 9.6%
10.8%) in December 2020. DONEGAL 10.1%
er continues to have the MAYO 12.2%
average vacancy rate at ROSCOMMON 12.6%
10 of the 12 counties to LEITRIM 14.5%
vacancy rates below the
0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0%
al average were in Leinster.
Source: GeoDirectory Database
ddresses as a proportion of
residential stock, excluding Figure 7: Composition of Housing Stock by County, Percentage Shares, December 2020
s under construction Recognising that returning vacant homes to use could help to address the
STATE 93.5% 1.9% 4.6%
down of housing stock housing crisis the Report
DUBLIN 98.4% of the cross party Dáil Housing and Homelessness 0.0% 1.6%
KILDARE 98.0% 0.0% 2.0%
7 provides a split of Committee published in June 2016 included in its recommendations that:3.1%
LOUTH 96.6% 0.4%
using stock between KILKENNY 96.4% 0.4% 3.2%
ed dwellings, holiday CARLOW 96.3% 0.4%
“As recommended by the Housing Agency, the Government should develop 3.3% an
and vacant units by WICKLOW 96.1% 1.3% 2.5%
y.* overarchingLAOIS
national
96.1% two-year strategy to reduce vacancies in the general
0.2% housing
3.7%
MEATH 96.1% 0.6% 3.3%
stock. Based
erage occupancy rate across the on the national strategy, each local authority should perform
OFFALY 95.5% 0.1%
an
4.4%
audit
was 93.5% in December 2020,
and produce an empty
WATERFORD 94.9% homes strategy with objectives, aims and actions
2.3% needed
2.9% to
ppts relative to December 2019. LIMERICK 94.8% 0.3% 4.9%
tackle the issue, with a view to acquiring significant numbers of vacant
l, 12 of the 26 counties registered WESTMEATH 94.8% 0.4%
houses
4.9%
for local
ancy rates below the national authority use to 94.5%
CORK clear the housing waiting lists.”2 1.5% 4.0%
e. MONAGHAN 93.8% 0.3% 5.9%
TIPPERARY 93.2% 0.7% 6.1%
(98.4%), Kildare (98.0% and
GALWAY 92.1% 1.7% 6.2%
(96.6%) recorded1 thehttps://www.geodirectory.ie/getattachment/News/
highest
LONGFORD 90.6% 0.6% 8.8%
ancy rates.
2 https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/32/committee_on_housing_and_homelessness/
CAVAN 90.0% 1.6% 8.4%
reports/2016/2016-06-16_final-report-june-2016_en.pdf
nly county to record an occupancy WEXFORD 89.2% 7.6% 3.3%
elow 80% was Donegal at 78.7%.
3
SLIGO 87.1% 3.3% 9.6%
al (24.3% of total holiday CLARE 86.9% 6.6% 6.4%
Rebuilding Ireland Pillar 5 - Utilise Existing Housing
When Rebuilding Ireland was launched by the previous government in 2016, pillar
five of the plan was titled, “Utilise Existing Housing.”
It stated that the government would:
“…remove existing barriers to the quick conversion and re-use of vacant or under-utilised
city and town centre commercial premises for residential purposes and support wider
urban regeneration, with new measures to be brought forward by the end of 2016.”3
Three government schemes were established to incentivise the return of vacant
homes back into use.
Repair and Lease scheme: Provide grants to prospective landlords to bring
properties up to standard, when they enter leases for the provision of social and
affordable housing.
Housing Agency Fund: A €70m fund provided to the Housing Agency to acquire
vacant properties from portfolios for sale from financial institutions and investors
for social housing purposes.
Buy and Renew: The scheme funds local authorities and AHBs to purchase and
renew housing units in need of remediation and make them available for social
housing use.
The targets for each scheme are laid out in the Table 1 below.
TABLE 1
SCHEME TARGET
REPAIR AND 3,500 BY 2021
LEASE
BETWEEN
BUY AND RENEW 400-500 EXPECTED
HOUSING AGENCY 1,600
FUND
TOTAL 5,600
3 https://rebuildingireland.ie/utilise-existing-housing/
4
Sinn Féin Plan
In June 2017 Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin published an ambitious
vacant homes strategy.
The plan outlines how vacant units can be brought into use through a range of
measures including a statutory vacant homes register, a vacant homes tax, greater
use of compulsory purchase orders, and the appointment of vacant homes officers.
It was also critical of the delivery of three key government schemes that were in
place to return homes back into use.
The Housing Agency Fund, Buy & Renew, Repair & Lease are chronically
underfunded and combined, they are targeting between 5,600 vacant homes over
six years – just 3% of the total vacant stock in the state.4
4 https://www.sinnfein.ie/files/2017/EOB_Vacant_Homes_Strategy.pdf
5
National Vacant
National Vacant HousingHousing
Reuse Strategy 2018 – 2021 Re-Use Strategy
The government also launched the National Vacant Housing Re-Use Strategy
in September 2017. This plan contained five objectives which are outlined in
wing as its
1 over
mplish the
To accoimage all Strategic Objective, this Strategy has the follo
below.
five key objectives:-:
THE FIVE KEY OBJECTIVES
st, accurate, consistent and up-to-date data sets on
Objective 1 Establish robu
vacancy. National Vacant Housing
Reuse Strategy
measures to ensure, to the greatest degr ee possible, that
Objective 2 Bring forward 2018-2021
s are brought back to
vacant and underused privately owned propertie
use
measures to minimise vacancy arising in Social Housing
Objective 3 Bring forward
Stock.
gement with and provision of support to key stakeholders
Objective 4 Continued enga
s, financial institutions
to ensure suitable vacant properties held by bank
and investors are acquired for social housing use.
Prepared by the Department of
Housing, Planning and Local Govern
ment
housing.gov.ie
lop cross-sector relationships, collabora ting in
Objective 5 Foster and deve
partnership to tackle vacant housing matters.
TheAfollow set out aon
ing sectionsreport e of actio
rangthe ns to be taken under these five key objectives.
progress National Vacant Housing Re-Use Strategy, published
in May 2020 can be viewed on the Department of Housing, Heritage and
Local Government website. 5
For the purposes of this document we are going to focus on the delivery
from the three key schemes as referenced above, Repair and Lease, Buy and
Renew and the Housing Agency Fund.
According to the update, as of February 2020, 161 homes were delivered
back into use under Repair & Lease. Buy & Renew has seen Local Authorities
acquire and renovate 545 homes for social housing and the Housing Agency
Fund has delivered 784 properties to Approved Housing Bodies with a
further 93 properties in the process of being secured.
5 https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/2f2d8-national-vacant-housing-reuse-strategy-2018-2021-progress-report-
may-2020/
6
13
Delivery
According to the latest information available, obtained via a parliamentary
question, only 1,672 homes have been delivered to date via the three
government schemes. This is just 30% of the target set.
A breakdown of delivery is provided in Table 2 below
TABLE 2
Scheme Delivered Target
Repair and Lease 198 3,500
Between
Buy and Renew 670 400-500 expected
Housing Agency Fund 804 1,600
Total 1,672 5,600
The information above shows that just 198 homes had been brought back
into use under the Repair and Lease scheme by the end of August 2020.
This is a very poor return considering the former Minister for Housing Simon
Coveney set a target to deliver 3,500 homes by 2021.
670 new social homes have been delivered via Buy and Renew up to the end
of 2020.
Only 804 homes have been purchased out of the €70m rolling Housing
Agency fund, despite 1,600 homes targeted for delivery by 2020 in
Rebuilding Ireland and 1,800 homes being offered.
Housing delivery from the Repair and Leasing scheme can only be described
as a huge failure. Despite the 3,500-target set by Minister Coveney, four
years in and despite tweaks to the scheme in 2018, the government has only
reached 5.7% of its target.
7
What next
It is clear that despite producing plan and setting targets that neither this
government nor the last has put sufficient funding or support in place to
ensure that these three schemes delivered on their targets.
With 90,000 + vacant homes across the state we need to be more ambitious
in terms of how we target these properties in order to reach 35,000 home
completions annually. Returning more vacant homes to use is quicker,
cheaper and better for the climate than building new homes from scratch.
The schemes should have demonstrated greater flexibility and more support
should have been given to smaller, more rural local authorities in order to
bring homes back into use.
We need a new and more ambitious strategy, that should include;
• A dedicated vacant homes officer in each local authority
• Increase funding and support for Repair and Lease, Buy and
Renew and the Housing Agency fund so that they can reach their
potential
• Increased use of CPO powers by the Councils
• The roll out a specific scheme, ran in conjunction with the
Department of Health and the Department of Housing to bring
some homes in the Fair Deal schemes back into use
• Specific year on year targets for returning vacant homes to use
must be set in each local authority
• Government should introduce a vacant homes tax applicable
to properties vacant more than 6 months within DED’s or LEA’s
determined by the Local Authorities as having a high level of
housing need and a high level of vacancy*
To view Sinn Féin’s comprehensive Vacant Homes Strategy please view the
policy document on our website available at the following link –
https://www.sinnfein.ie/files/2017/EOB_Vacant_Homes_Strategy.pdf
Housing,
plAnning,
community
And locAl
government
EoinÓ
Eoin ÓBroin
Broin TD
TD
Spokesperson on Housing,
Spokesperson on Housing,
Planning, Community and Local Government
Planning, Community and Local Government
Policy
PolicyBriefing
BriefingPaper
PaperNo. 5 2
no.
VACANT
REFORMING
HOMES
THE PRIVATE
STRATEGY
RENTED SECTOR
Reforming the Private Rental Sector.indd 1 17/11/2016 15:59
*Any such proposal would have exemptions for homes in probate or in the Fair Deal scheme.
8
Appendix
For Written Answer on : 25/02/2021
Question Number(s): 132 Question Reference(s): 10792/21
Department: Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Asked by: Eoin Ó Broin T.D.
______________________________________________
QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage the number
of social houses delivered through the buy and renew scheme, the repair and
leasing scheme and the Housing Agency €70 million rolling fund since these
schemes were introduced to the most recent date for which data is available;
the breakdown by year and by local authority; and the cost to the of each
scheme to date and in each year these schemes were in operation.
REPLY
My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on
a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity. Delivery statistics to
the end of Quarter 3 2020 are published on my Department’s website, at
the following link: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-
housing-provision/. Statistics for Quarter 4 are being collated and will be
published in the coming weeks.
The Buys and Renew Scheme facilitates local authorities in acquiring and
remediating vacant properties that may be suitable for social housing. The
delivery and total capital drawn down by each local authority to the end of
2020 is set out in the table attached.
The Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) was developed to assist private
property owners and local authorities or approved housing bodies to
harness the accommodation potential that exists in vacant dwellings. Data to
the end of Q3 2020 in relation to dwellings delivered by each local authority
under RLS is available on my Department’s website at the link above. Total
capital funding drawn down by each local authority under RLS for the period
2017-2020 is set out on the table attached.
The Housing Agency Acquisition Fund has enabled the Housing Agency to
actively engage with banks and investment companies in relation to the
acquisitions of properties and the delivery and funding drawn down by each
local authority is set out in the table attached.
9
For Written Answer on : 27/01/2021
Question Number(s): 355 Question Reference(s): 4410/21
Department: Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Asked by: Eoin Ó Broin T.D.
______________________________________________
QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage if he has
engaged with the Minister for Health to determine a scheme to encourage
families with vacant properties tied into the fair deal scheme to rent those
properties into the private rental or social rental sector; and if not, if he will
give a commitment to do so in view of the thousands of vacant fair deal
homes across the State.
REPLY
Commitments were included in the former Government's Strategy for the
Rental Sector and National Vacant Housing Reuse Strategy, to examine the
treatment under the Nursing Home Support Scheme’s (or Fair Deal Scheme's)
financial assessment of income from a person’s principal private residence
(PPR), where they move into long-term residential care.
The Programme for Government – Our Shared Future contains a
commitment to reform the Fair Deal Scheme to incentivise renting out
vacant properties.
These commitments reflected an intent to explore the potential to
encourage vacant accommodation to be brought into active use.
My Department is currently engaging with the Department of Health in
relation to these actions. Both Departments are exploring proposals to
enable vacant properties owned by patients in long-term nursing home care
to be brought back into early use, through adjustments to the treatment of
rental income and house sale proceeds derived from a PPR in the financial
assessment of income for the purposes of the Fair Deal Scheme.
Legislative amendments to the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009,
which comes within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Health, would
be required to address this matter. Discussions are ongoing between the
Departments in this regard in the context of progressing any appropriate
amendments through the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Amendment)
Bill, being developed by the Department of Health. I have engaged directly
with Minister Donnelly on this issue and arrangements for further discussions
at Ministerial level will be made, if necessary, to ensure that satisfactory
progress is achieved.
It will remain a personal choice for any individual as to whether or not they
wish to sell or rent out their home, in the private or social rental sector, upon
taking up residence in a nursing home.
10Thursday, 23 March 2017
Asked by: Eoin Ó Broin T.D.
______________________________________________
QUESTION
103. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local
Government the number of homes delivered and tenanted through initiatives set out in
Rebuilding Ireland to bring vacant stock back into use; and if he will make a statement on
the matter. [14607/17]
REPLY
Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government
Pillar 5 of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness is specifically
focused on utilising Existing Housing Stock, with a key objective of ensuring that the existing vacant housing
stock throughout the country and across all forms of tenure, in both the public and private sectors, is used to
the optimum degree possible.
To this end, the Housing Agency, which has lead responsibility for coordinating the development of the
Strategy, established a working group in September 2016 comprising of senior representatives from my
Department, local authorities and from the Housing Agency itself to inform the Strategy. The Group is due to
report in the coming weeks.
The Rebuilding Ireland commitments are set out in line with best asset management practices, which will see
all local authorities operating to a national re-letting performance standard and greater use of a preventative
maintenance approach to social housing stock management. In 2016, over 2,300 vacant social housing
units were returned to productive use. This figure does not include units returned to use by local authorities
through funding from their own resources. Allocations for 2017 are due to be announced shortly and it is
expected that in excess of 1,500 vacant social housing units will be brought back to use under the Voids
Programme.
The Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) has been developed under Pillar 5 of Rebuilding Ireland to assist private
property owners and local authorities or Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to harness the accommodation
potential that exists in certain vacant properties across Ireland. The scheme is targeted at owners of vacant
properties who cannot afford or access the funding needed to bring their properties up to the required
standard for rental property. Subject to the suitability of the property for social housing, and the agreement of
the property owner, the cost of the necessary repairs will be met upfront by the local authority or an Approved
Housing Body (AHB). This allows for the property owner to sign-up to a lease arrangement for a length that is
linked to the value of the repairs, subject to a minimum of 10 years. The value of the repairs will then be offset
incrementally against the agreed rental payment over a defined period within the lease.
Following on from the success of the initial pilot in Waterford and Carlow local authorities, the Repair and
Leasing Scheme (RLS) is being rolled out on a national basis from 23 February 2017. I am making an additional
€26m available to fund the scheme in 2017, which brings the total amount available this year to €32m. This
additional investment in 2017 means that delivery under the scheme can be accelerated and up to 800 vacant
properties can be brought back into use as new homes for families on local authority waiting lists this year.
This funding represents a frontloading of the €140m being made available for the scheme over the next 5
years. Over the period 2016 to 2021, it is anticipated that up to 3,500 units will be secured for social housing
under this scheme.
Other initiatives include the Buy and Renew Scheme. The full details of this scheme are being finalised and will
be communicated to local authorities shortly. I have made an initial €25 million available for this initiative this
year and propose to increase this to as much as €50 million in 2018, depending on the uptake. I expect this
investment to deliver between 400 and 500 renewed houses for social housing use.
This initiative may present opportunities for local authorities and approved housing bodies to tackle
dereliction in towns and urban areas, but prospective housing units will always need to be suitable for social
housing use, in an area of need and to represent reasonable value for money.
In addition, the Housing Agency is being provided with €70m in capital funding from the Exchequer, with the
specific focus of engaging with banks and other entities to acquire properties for social housing nationally.
Overall, some 1,600 units are targeted for acquisition under this initiative.
11REPAIR AND LEASE
Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) - Delivery to End Q3 2020
LA DWELLINGS DWELLINGS DWELLINGS DWELLINGS
DELIVERED - 2017 DELIVERED - 2018 DELIVERED - 2019 DELIVERED - 2020
Carlow - 2 2 -
Cork City - - 1 -
Cork County - - 1 2
DLR 1 - - -
Dublin City - 1 - 1
Fingal - 7 20 -
Galway County - - - 1
Kerry - - - 3
Kildare - - 1 -
Kilkenny - 1 - -
Laois - - 1 -
Limerick - 8 4 5
Longford - 6 - -
Louth - - 1 -
Mayo - - 2 8
Meath - 1 - -
Monaghan - 4 1 -
Roscommon - 2 1 -
Tipperary - 1 - -
Waterford 6 35 41 5
Westmeath - 1 - -
Wexford 2 11 - 8
9 80 76 33
12BUY AND RENEW AND HOUSING AGENCY FUND
Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) - Capital Spend 2017 - 2020
LOCAL AUTHORITY SPEND 2017 SPEND 2018 SPEND 2019 SPEND 2020
Carlow - €67,983 €68,267 €1,433
Cavan - - - -
Clare - - - -
Cork City - - - -
Cork County - - €40,000 €80,000
DLR €4,987 - - -
Donegal - - - -
Dublin City - €39,044 - -
Fingal - - €40,000 €146,315
Galway City - - - -
Galway County - - - -
Kerry - - - €120,000
Kildare - - €36,008 -
Kilkenny - €24,000 - -
Laois - - - €7,753
Leitrim - - - -
Limerick - €207,174 €80,000 €221,800
Longford - - €28,768 -
Louth - - - €40,000
Mayo - - €62,076 €280,000
Meath - €8,698 - -
Monaghan - €25,000 €20,000 €54,414
Offaly - - - -
Roscommon - €27,222 - €40,000
Sligo - - - -
South Dublin - - - -
Tipperary - €33,789 - -
Waterford €191,398 €1,106,739 €1,183,054 €1,199,054
Westmeath - €35,000 - -
Wexford - €38,458 €278,948 €234,513
Wicklow - - - -
Total €196,385 €1,613,107 €1,837,121 €2,245,282
13HOUSING AGENCY ACQUISITIONS FUND
2017 2018 2019 2020 Total
Number of Annual Number of Annual Number of Annual Number of Annual Annual
Local Total
Properties Acquisition Properties Acquisition Properties Acquisition Properties Acquisition Acquisition
Authority Cost
Delivered Cost Delivered Cost Delivered Cost Delivered Cost
Carlow 1 €135,000 6 €935,600 7 €1,070,600
Cavan 4 €427,250 1 €125,000 5 €552,250
Clare 4 €450,000 2 €345,000 1 €200,000 7 €995,000
Cork City 7 €1,301,800 1 €210,000 8 €1,511,800
Cork County 32 €5,626,100 35 €5,635,600 3 €495,000 70 €11,756,700
Donegal 1 €85,000 7 €574,000 3 €235,000 11 €894,000
Dublin City 5 €1,263,000 97 €24,954,133 17 €4,891,011 21 €5,465,000 140 €36,573,144
Dun Laoghaire 8 €2,183,500 6 €1,574,000 1 €310,000 15 €4,067,500
Fingal 1 €165,000 79 €15,788,050 7 €1,760,255 6 €1,335,000 93 €19,048,305
Galway City 1 €131,000 4 €970,000 4 €763,582 8 €1,655,500 17 €3,520,082
Galway County 1 €120,000 17 €2,767,500 4 €487,000 22 €3,374,500
Kerry 9 €1,710,000 4 €423,000 4 €475,000 2 €255,000 19 €2,863,000
Kildare 7 €1,907,500 36 €7,370,250 14 €2,555,600 16 €3,500,500 73 €15,333,850
Kilkenny 5 €603,500 4 €560,733 2 €315,000 11 €1,479,233
Laois 1 €165,000 19 €2,842,000 4 €595,000 24 €3,602,000
Leitrim 3 €260,000 1 €94,500 1 €110,000 5 €464,500
Limerick 9 €1,296,000 8 €1,235,000 5 €750,000 22 €3,281,000
Longford 3 €357,000 3 €304,000 1 €90,000 7 €751,000
Louth 7 €1,116,000 3 €510,000 1 €115,000 11 €1,741,000
Mayo 2 €250,000 3 €321,963 1 €90,000 6 €661,963
Meath 3 €505,000 14 €2,507,000 14 €2,723,000 2 €310,000 33 €6,045,000
Monaghan 3 €400,000 3 €400,000
Offaly 8 €1,020,000 4 €502,000 12 €1,522,000
Roscommon 1 €115,000 1 €65,000 1 €82,000 3 €262,000
Sligo 1 €110,000 3 €385,000 4 €495,000
South Dublin 5 €950,000 36 €7,275,000 19 €4,254,600 9 €1,789,000 69 €14,268,600
Tipperary 29 €3,105,375 9 €995,000 1 €180,000 39 €4,280,375
Waterford 14 €1,774,000 5 €612,684 4 €418,000 23 €2,804,684
Westmeath 1 €95,000 7 €1,053,050 3 €428,000 2 €238,000 13 €1,814,050
Wexford 1 €60,000 11 €1,286,000 2 €252,000 2 €253,000 16 €1,851,000
Wicklow 9 €2,403,170 3 €673,200 4 €1,988,000 16 €5,064,370
Total 36 €7,156,500 481 €90,743,678 192 €34,294,328 95 €20,154,000 804 €152,348,506
1415
Government
vacant housing
schemes have failed
www.sinnfein.ie
Eoin Ó Broin TD
: eoin.obroin@oir.ie : 01 621 8653
: Office 4, 1st Floor, Griffeen View, The Square, Main St., Lucan, Co. Dublin.You can also read
