COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, October 11, 2010

Headed Item No.   4(c) (ii) 

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE HOUSING AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 23^rd  SEPTEMBER, 2010

PRESENT:

        Members:                                               Council Officials:

         Cllr Paddy Cosgrave chaired the meeting

H-I(1)  Minutes

The minutes of the Housing and Social Development Strategic Policy Committee Meeting held on 20^th May, 2010 were proposed by Councillor M. Duff seconded by Councillor D. Looney and confirmed and approved as a true record and signed.

H-I(2)  Matters Arising 

It was NOTED there was no business under this heading.

H-I(3)  PRESENTATION BY FOCUS IRELAND ON – HOUSING EXPERIENCE OF MIGRANTS – A NEW REPORT JUST COMPLETED

 Mr Billy Coman, Director of Services introduced Mr Mike Allen who gave a presentation on behalf of Focus Ireland on the Housing Experience of Migrants – a new  report just completed.

Following a discussion to which Councillors P Cosgrave, R. Dowds, P. Kearns contributed Mr M. Allen and Mr B. Coman, Director of Services, responded to queries raised.

The report was NOTED.

H-I(4)  UPDATE ON NEW LEASING INITIATIVE ASH (APPLICANT SOURCED HOUSING)

The following report which had been circulated was NOTED:

“In an effort to drive the leasing initiative in South Dublin, Department of the Environment Heritage & Local Government approval was received to operate the ASH (Applicant Sourced Homes) programme on a pilot basis. This represents an exciting new opportunity for housing applicants to source their own home which, subject to suitability of the property and agreement with the property owner, will be leased by the Council. The ASH programme has just commenced and is being rolled out to persons on the housing list on an incremental basis.

In order to deliver the schemes in a fair and equitable manner and to give housing applicants maximum opportunity it was decided to roll out the schemes in manageable tranches. To date 150 applicants on the housing list have been contacted with full information on both schemes and requested to submit a preference for either option.

An Information Booklet (pdf document) outlining the opportunity   for property owners for making properties available to a local authority under the initiative was published an advertised by the Housing & Sustainable Communities Agency. A follow up national newspaper advertisement was carried out in August 2010. The scheme is also outlined on the Council’s website together with an outline FAQ for landlords who may be interested in the scheme.

To date the Council has received expressions of interest from property owners across a range of property types throughout the county for in excess of 100 properties which are at various stages of assessment and inspection for suitability for inclusion in the scheme.

The Social Housing Leasing Initiative is in the early stages of development and implementation."

The Housing Department have written to 153 people on the Housing list. 20 tenants responded. Problems associated with the scheme are:

1.      Major developers or landlords do not appear to be interested in the scheme due to the levels of rental supplement available

2.      Private landlords wary of the inspection process and shying away from BER Certs

3.      There is no option for the tenant to purchase the leased unit

It was pointed out that there was a slow take up of RAS units but now there are 1200 RAS units. It is expected ASH will be the same and that there will be a greater take up of the scheme further down the Housing list.

Following a discussion to which Councillors C. King, P. Kearns, D. Looney, P. Cosgrave, and B. Lawlor Mr B. Coman, Director of Services, and Mr H. Hogan, Senior Executive Officer, responded to queries raised.

The report was NOTED.

H-I (5) UPDATE ON HOUSING MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS ACT 2009

The presentation on the update of the Housing Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2009 which had been circulated was NOTED. The matter will be further discussed at the next meeting of the Housing and Social SPC due to be held on the 11^th November, 2010.

H-I (6) ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Anti Social Behaviour

Mr. H. Hogan, Senior Executive Officer, gave a presentation on Anti-Social Behaviour. Prevention of Anti Social Behaviour in a multi-agency approach is important. All incidents are mapped. This indicates pockets of where Anti Social Behaviour occurs. This information is shared with the Gardai. In order to capture data properly it is important that all incidents are recorded.

Following a discussion to which Mr. B. Healy, Councillors P. Cosgrave, P. Kearns and M. Duff contributed Mr. H. Hogan, Senior Executive Officer and Mr. B. Coman, Director of Services responded to queries raised.

The report was NOTED.

The meeting concluded at   7.10 pm