COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, September 14, 2009
QUESTION NO. 20
QUESTION: Councillor W. Lavelle
To ask the Manager for an update on plans for the leasing of unoccupied new housing stock in privately constructed development for social housing purposes?
REPLY:
There is a national fund of €2OM available from the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government to Local Housing Authorities in the current year to lease new properties for social housing purposes and the Council is proactively promoting the scheme as a means of providing Social Housing.
Under the Leasing Project Local Housing Authorities will lease new, vacant homes and take responsibility for their maintenance, insurance and tenancy management for 10 or 20 year periods. Minimum batches of 10 units of accommodation are required and it is a condition of the scheme that the management and maintenance of the leased homes be contracted to a Voluntary Housing Body.
The Council placed a procurement advertisement in the Irish Times seeking expressions of interest in the Leasing Project in February of this year but the response to the advertisement was disappointing.
The Council is currently in negotiations with one developer who responded to our advertisement about the leasing of apartments for social housing use which meet the required criteria.
The main criteria taken into account when the Council is assessing a leasing proposal are:
- the demand for such homes in the location concerned;
- the concentration of social homes already in the area---the Council has a proactive policy of social integration through planned tenure mix whereby we will not permit the percentage of social homes in any street, block or estate to exceed 10/15%, the higher percentage being considered only where there is a negligible quantity of social housing in the general area;
- value for money.
The Council has also been given permission to utilise the leasing fund to socialise a number of unsold affordable homes. This project has just commenced and a detailed report on same will be presented to the Housing and Social SPC at its next meeting, and to the Area Committees.