COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
HEADED ITEM NO. 14
SOCIAL HOUSING LEASING ARRANGEMENTS IN THE RATHFARNHAM AREA
The roll out and active promotion in South Dublin of the Social Housing Leasing Initiative in accordance with Department of the Environment Heritage & Local Government circulars N3/07 and SHIP 2010.07 commenced in June 2010 following the adoption of the Croke Park Agreement.
An Information Booklet (pdf document) outlining the opportunity for property owners for making properties available to a local authority under the initiative was published and advertised by the Housing & Sustainable Communities Agency. A national newspaper advertisement promoting the scheme was carried out in August 2010. More recently the scheme was advertised on www.irishlandlord.com
The scheme is also advertised on the Council website together with an outline FAQ.
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 360 properties of which over 200 have been made available by the owners for Council inspection.
These properties are now at various stages of assessment and inspection for suitability for inclusion in the leasing scheme. Lease agreements have been formalised in the case of 19 properties and made available for tenanting.
In support and as a driver to 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 is being offered to persons on the housing list on an incremental basis. The Council has now issued 657 letters (455 individuals) to persons on the various housing lists giving full information on the ASH programme up to 31st January 2011 , of which to date responses have been received from 279 housing applicants. It is noteworthy that 176 did not respond and have been removed from the current list of 10,100 . 0f the 279 positive responses 35 applicants opted for C B L, 155 where undecided or unsuccessful (35) and 74 opted for A S H and a further 15 made contact with their existing landlord details . These will be processed through the leasing programme or included in the R A S program .
Of the 74 who opted for A S H 20 have been successfully accommodated and 3 are pending agreements . This figure includes 4 from the Homeless List . According as the ASH programme is rolled out it is anticipated that the leasing initiative will gather momentumas a source of social housing provision for housing applicants as the availability of Council stock properties declines.
The redevelopment of several computer packages within the Allocations Section and a new WEB portal has progressed significantly and will dramatically assist with the roll out of these Pilot Schemes .