COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 14, 2007

QUESTION No. 10

QUESTION: Councillor K. Warren

To ask the Manager to state the total number of houses purchased by South Dublin County Council for purposes of social housing in the Dublin 24 area over the past 3 years, a particular breakdown of where these houses have been purchased (i.e. the total number of houses in X estate), to set out the policy of the Council in respect of purchasing of existing housing stock in the second hand market, the total sum of money allocated for this over the past 3 years, and the factors involved before the Council make a decision to purchase i.e. price, location, etc., and if he will make a statement on the matter?

REPLY

The following are the number of  previously owned dwellings purchased by the Council in the last three years in the Dublin 24 area.

2005                3 purchased

2006                7 purchased

2007               30 purchased (as at 1st May 2007)

The numbers of units purchased depends on various factors, including demand in a particular area from the housing list, availability of suitable dwellings for purchase and  availability of funding from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Funding for purchases is made from within the Annual Housing Capital Allocation. An decision to increase the number of purchases was made in the middle of last year as there had been a number of unavoidable delays in the delivery pipeline for direcltly procured units.

The purchase of previously owned dwellings throughout the County has been an integral part of housing provision over the years and has been used to augment supply. It is also used to promote social integration and in this regard the Council would examine factors such as the housing mix, housing tenure and housing type in the immediate area before  a decision to purchase would be made.