HOUSING EZINE Summer 2018 - Cork County Council
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HOUSING EZINE
Summer 2018
Cork County Council
message
from Tim Lucey, Chief Executive
Quality, affordable Housing is the
foundation stone for our families, and
our communities. Cork County Council
meets the need for housing services in
the county by facilitating the provision
of suitable, cost effective, high quality
housing accommodation and through
a range of other housing supports.
Rebuilding Ireland, the Government’s Action Plan for Housing envisages the provision
of 47,000 social housing units nationwide by 2021. Cork County Council is meeting its
targets under the strategy through the construction and acquisition of dwellings and
the refurbishment of vacant and derelict stock.
Cork County Council’s social housing department currently provides over 7,500
houses in Cork County and in 2017 provided 320 new tenancies. Approximately €60
million was spent on Response and Planned Maintenance, Energy Efficiency measures
and Refurbishment of Vacant Units throughout Cork County.
In 2018 it is anticipated that this capital expenditure programme will accelerate
further with the development and acquisition of more homes, while continuing the
improvement of our existing stock of houses throughout the County. To assist in this
process Cork County Council will be commencing a Housing Stock Survey to facilitate
works that will contribute to the improvement of the quality of lives of our tenants.
It is the intention of Cork County Council to continue to work closely with all key
stakeholders to ensure that the right mix of accommodation is provided in relevant
locations.
Tim Lucey
Tim Lucey, Chief Executive of Cork County Council Chief Executive of Cork County Council
Housing Provision
Construction
Adaptations
Tur Liath
Fermoy
Cork County Council recently completed 10 no. spacious housing units
in Fermoy which involved the regeneration of a brown field site in an
Architectural Conservation Area to promote and reinforce a sustainable
community. The development is made up of one 3 bed family type
unit, six 2 bed duplex apartments and three 1 bed ground floor units.
Each dwelling has an associated outdoor private space in the form of a
small yard or a small balcony. Particular care was taken with the design
of the yard boundaries to ensure that they enhanced the visual quality
of the courtyard while providing a clear separation between the public
and private areas.
Construction #rebuildingcork Construction of 49 houses in Kilnagleary, Carrigaline, and 7 in Masseytown, Macroom have recently commenced while construction is ongoing on a number of smaller schemes in Cobh and Castletownbere. Construction is expected to commence in the coming months at Blarney, Kanturk and Cloyne. Planning is at an advanced stage for sites in Clonakilty, Macroom, Skibbereen, and Kanturk. Design is also progressing on new council housing schemes at multiple locations across the county on Council lands including in Dripsey, Ballincollig, Dunmanway, Mitchelstown, Macroom, Bandon, Skibbereen, Mallow, Midleton , Doneraile, Courtmacsherry and Blarney to meet housing demands in these areas. In total these schemes will provide approximately an additional 540 new social houses over the coming years in multiple locations around Cork County.
Council Turnkey
Construction Projects
turnkey locations
2018-2019
The Council presently has a number of schemes
under construction in Cork using an innovative
Turnkey housing model, which utilises private
development lands to deliver new social housing.
To date we have delivered 98 units. A further 104
units will be delivered in 2018.
Voids Refurbishment
& Medical
Adaptation Program
Cork County Council is committed to re-letting properties
that are returned to the housing department in the
quickest turnaround time as is practically possible. In
2015, 2016 & 2017 a total of 496 homes were provided
through the Council’s Void Refurbishment Programme.
It is planned that an additional 108 homes will be
refurbished in 2018.
In tandem with the Voids program, the Council is
undertaking a significant extensions program which
has been specially tailored to incorporate significant
adaptations to existing council properties, to maintain
tenants, with medical issues, in their own homes, as an
alternative to sourcing specifically constructed new
accommodation for them.
In 2017, the Council delivered 8 such extensions and 13
further extensions are proposed for 2018 at an estimated
cost of €1,100,000. Cork County Council also completed
a total of 97 minor adaptation works on Council owned
properties in 2017 to assist our tenants with mobility or
other disability issues.
Capital Assistance
Scheme (CAS)
The Capital Assistance Scheme provides housing to meet the
accommodation needs of older people; persons with a physical,
mental health, intellectual or sensory disability; elderly returning
emigrants and persons exiting temporary homeless accommodation
etc. The objective is to deliver a responsive and flexible system
of housing supports that is capable of taking into account the
diversity of housing needs of older people and people with specific
categories of need and to do this in a sustainable and cost-effective
way. The Scheme is administered by the Local Authorities and
Bandon CAS undertaken in partnership with Approved Housing Bodies.
Approved
The Council also provides social housing in
collaboration with the Approved Housing
Bodies and has a number of social housing
Housing Bodies
schemes at design and under construction.
At present two significant housing schemes
are at procurement stage in Fermoy & Kinsale,
in partnership with Respond and Cluid.
The Council also provides social housing in collaboration
with the Approved Housing Bodies and has a number
of social housing schemes at design, planning and pre-
construction stages.
At present two significant housing schemes are at
procurement stage in Fermoy & Kinsale, in partnership with
Respond and Cluid. Tuath have recently completed the
refurbishment of an unfinished estate at The Burroughs in
Douglas, with support from Cork County Council.
Aside from these significant schemes, there are many other
leasing and construction schemes in the pipeline throughout
the County in locations such as Rosscarbery, Ballingeary,
Charleville, Enniskeane, Cobh, Bandon, Carrigaline,
Macroom, Castletownroche, and other locations.
Planned Maintenance &
Energy Efficiency
In 2017, the Housing Department undertook a significant county-
wide Planned Maintenance & Energy Efficient Retrofit Programme.
€2.388m was spent on a combination of Phase 1 & Phase 2 Energy
Efficiency works. 968 Units have had insulation works completed.
€678,857 was also spent on Planned Maintenance works.
Response Maintenance
Cork County Council has a Total Stock of approximately 7,500 units. A
A further 273 Units had such works as Window & Door replacement, dedicated response maintenance unit deals with routine and emergency
Sewerage upgrade works, Heating System upgrades, and Facia & maintenance calls. In 2017 a total of 6,574 Response maintenance calls
Soffit replacement completed in 2017. were attended to throughout the county. Maintenance calls comprise of
mainly: Plumbing, Heating, Electrical, Internal & External Structural issues.
Maintenance / Repair Requests Contact Details:
»
Divisional Operations (Housing) South Cork, County Hall Cork
Telephone No. 021-4285302
E-mail address: Housingmaintenancesouth@corkcoco.ie
»
Divisional Operations (Housing) North Cork, County Hall Cork
Telephone No. 022-30469
E-mail address: Housingmaintenancenorth@corkcoco.ie
»
Divisional Operations (Housing) West Cork, County Hall Cork
Telephone No. 023-8863728
E-mail address: Housingmaintenancewest@corkcoco.ieApplicant
Information Choice Based Letting
Cork County Council has introduced Choice Based Letting
(CBL) as a new way of allocating dwellings to approved
applicants. It has been live in North Cork since November 2016
and in South and West Cork since March 2017.
This scheme works on the basis that available dwellings are
advertised on our dedicated website (cbl.corkcoco.ie) on
a weekly basis where available and applicants are asked to
submit an expression of interest on a dwelling in which they
are interested.
Countywide to date (May 2018) there have been almost
305,000 views and nearly 37,000 expressions of interest
recorded on the system.
The introduction of CBL has resulted in refusal rates dropping
to 7% with 341 properties accepted of the 346 properties
advertised since the system went live.Housing Benefits for
Assistance Payment HAP recipients
HAP is a form of social housing support provided
by all local authorities. HAP means that local
authorities can provide housing assistance
• HAP allows recipients to work
full-time, while still receiving
for households who qualify for social housing housing support.
support, including many long-term Rent
Supplement recipients. • The rent contribution payable by
the HAP recipient will be based
Under HAP, local authorities will make a on the differential rent scheme
monthly payment to a landlord, subject to for their local authority. This links
terms and conditions including rent limits, on the rent contribution payable by
a tenant’s behalf. In return, the tenant pays a a household to the household
weekly contribution towards the rent to the income and the ability to pay.
•
local authority. This ‘rent contribution’ is based
on the household income. It is calculated in the HAP will help to regulate the
same way as the rent paid by a tenant of a local private rented sector and improve
authority owned property. standards of accommodation.
Local authorities will inspect the
rental property to make sure it
meets the required standards.
HAP • HAP recipients can, if they wish,
avail of other social housing
Contact Details: supports and options through
the local authority’s transfer list.
HAP Unit, Housing Department,
Cork County Council, Floor 4,
• Local authorities will be the
single point of contact for all
County Hall, Cork. social housing supports.
Cork County Council has the highest
Tel: 021 428 5079 number of HAP tenancies in the
Email: hap@corkcoco.ie country with over 2,800 in place.Housing Needs Assessment
The Minister of State at the Department of
Housing, Planning and Local Government
Damien English published the 2017
Summary of Social Housing Assessments National Summary Figures from the
2017 Assessment
(SSHA) on 20th January 2018.
This report brings together information
provided by local authorities on
households in their functional area The majority (56.2%) of those qualified for social housing support are unemployed.
qualified for social housing support Being in need of rent supplement (39%) and Particular household circumstances
whose housing need is not being met. It (42%) were the two most commonly cited basis of need for social housing support
in Cork County.
also compares these results to previous
Single person households make up almost 44% of all households on the list.
results published in 2016.
All future assessments will be carried out annually. The 2018 HNA is currently
Nationally, 85,799 households were underway and Local Authorities have been requested to submit their figures from
the assessment on 29th June 2018.
assessed as qualified for housing support;
It is vitally important for all approved social housing support applicants who
Cork County Council housing waiting list receive SSHA update forms for either the current or future assessments to
increased by 8.3% since the 2016 SSHA:- engage with the process and return the completed forms within the deadlines
set out for same.
» 4,241 in 2016
» 4, 591 in 2017 Failure to do so will result in the applications of those who do not respond being
closed.Funding Schemes
Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan
The Rebuilding Ireland Home loan is a new Government backed
mortgage for first time buyers and has replaced the previous
Buy & Renew Scheme
House Purchase Loan Scheme.
It can be used to purchase a new or second hand property or to The Housing Directorate are working closely with the Municipal Districts to identify key
finance a self build. strategic properties which may be suitable for acquisition under the Buy and Renew Scheme.
You can borrow up to 90% of the market value of the property As of 04/07/2018, a total of 272 properties have been logged on www.vacanthomes.ie with
meaning the borrower will need to have a 10% deposit Vs a 3% regards to Cork County Council, which are being followed up.
deposit on the old scheme. A Vacant Homes Action Plan has been formulated for the identification, prioritisation and
assessment of suitable vacant properties.
You must have an annual gross income of not more than
€50,000 for a single applicant or not more than €75,000 for joint
applicants.
Repair & Lease Scheme
The principal objective of this scheme is to deliver social housing quickly, by targeting the
Max property value capped at €320,000 for Cork meaning a
remediation of vacant units that require only limited works.
max loan advance of €288,000 (90%)
From the 1st February, 2018 the scheme was extended to include Rental Availability
Arrangements (RAA) – which will incorporate the option for applicants to take on landlord
Three rate products available: 2% fixed for up to 25 yrs, 2.25%
responsibilities, and thereby benefit from an additional 12% rent (92% v 80%)
fixed for up to 30 yrs, 2.3% variable for up to 30 years.
Reduction of the minimum lease term from 10 to 5 years
Additional funding available where the property is a former bedsit
A website has been set up which gives full background on
Extension of Scheme to include new, vacant (min 12 months) but unfinished properties
scheme and has list of FAQ.
The property has to be vacant for at least 12 months.
www.rebuildingirelandhomeloan.ie
As of 31st December 2017, a total of 65 applications have been received.
Public Information Briefings will be organised in the coming months at Divisional Level.
A National Help Desk has been set up to answer queries in
relation to the scheme and their contact number is 051-349720
(8.00am - 5.00pm) Repair & Lease Scheme Contact Details:
www.rebuildingirelandhomeloan.ie Grants Section, Cork County Council, Annabella, Mallow, Co. Cork
Tel: 022/30476 or 022/30492 E-mail: repairandleasing@corkcoco.ieTenant Information
Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme 2016: The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase
Scheme was introduced on 1st Jan 2016. Approx 5,680 tenants who, are occupying properties that may
potentially be available for sale, received an information pack. The Social Operations Section confirms
property type and tenancy details. The Estate Management Section confirms the position with regard
to any anti-social behaviour and the Housing Rent Collection Unit checks that rent is up to date. Any
queries in relation to this Scheme should be directed to tps2016@corkcoco.ie
Tenants Handbook: The most current edition of the tenants handbook can be found on the
website www.corkcoco.ie/housing & contains further information and contact details.
Rents: The overall collection rate for the county in 2017 was 95.14% (excluding RAS and annuities),
with many individual areas even higher than this. This is a very high collection rate, particularly in a year
when a 3% increase was applied. The arrears have also dropped from €1.1m at the beginning of 2017
to €830,000 at year end.
Estate Management: Cork County Council owns and manages over 7500 properties throughout
the county. These houses may be located in estates of different sizes in towns and villages or once-off
in a rural areas.
Estate Management is primarily about making Local Authority estates better places to live in. There are
Area Officers dealing with Estate Management, Anti-Social Behaviour and Tenancy Enforcement, who
each operate in a designated area of the county, and carry out a range of services such as:
» Advising Tenants on all details of their tenancy and Estate Management, such as development of
Residents Associations.
» Assisting in resolving problems that occur in estates.
» Investigating complaints of Anti-Social Behaviour & breach of tenancy.Useful Contact Details for Housing Directorate Divisional Operations (Housing) South Cork, Floor 4, County Hall, Cork. General Number - Tel (021) 4285501, 4285215, 4285332, 4285327, 4285265. Maintenance/Repair Request - Tel (021) 4285302. Divisional Operations (Housing) North Cork, Council Offices, Annabella, Mallow, Co. Cork. General Number - Tel (022) 21123. Maintenance/Repair Request - Tel (022) 30469. Divisional Operations (Housing) West Cork, Council Offices, Kent Street, Clonakilty, Co. Cork. General Number - Tel (023) 8833328. Maintenance/Repair Request - Tel (023) 8863728. Housing Rents Section (Countywide) based at Council Offices, Kent Street, Clonakilty, Co. Cork. Tel (023) 8833328. Choice Based Letting (CBL) (Countywide) General Number - Tel (021) 4386635. Email: cblqueriessouth@corkcoco.ie • cblqueriesnorth@corkcoco.ie • cblquerieswest@corkcoco.ie Housing Assistance Payment Section (HAP) (Countywide), County Hall, Cork. General Number - Tel (021) 4285079. Email: hap@corkcoco.ie Housing Grants Section, (Countywide) Council Offices, Annabella, Mallow, Co. Cork. General Numbers- Tel (022) 30421, 30415, 30465, 30476, 30492. Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme, (Countywide) Floor 4, County Hall, Cork. General Number - Tel (021) 4285351. Email: TPS2016@corkcoco.ie You can call without appointment to the Housing Department, Public Offices during opening hours, as follows: North (10am to 4pm) South (10am to 4pm) West (9am to 5pm) Website: www.corkcoco.ie Email: housing@corkcoco.ie for general housing queries.
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