COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

MOTION NO. 16

MOTION: Councillor B. Bonner

Cathaoirleach's Business

That the Manager presents a report on the Window Replacement Programme in the Clondalkin Area.  Some residents who have been waiting for replacement windows and have been told that there is a list doubt the existence of a list.  Is there a list in operation?  How is the decision made about how to allocate the resources available for the Window Replacement Programme?

REPORT:

A replacement programme was initiated two years ago because the windows in a large number of the Council's housing stock were in very bad condition.   Tenants who had bad windows were listed and following an inspection the windows were graded on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being those in the worst condition.   In order to address this problem the Council provided €1 million in the 2009 budget and a further €1 million  in the 2010 budget.  This funding was for replacement of window/doors in the worst condition from this list.  This list is being added to each year and the list is Countywide and therefore grading is ongoing.

Windows and doors were replaced in 203 houses out of the 2009 allocation and 193 out of the 2010 funding. The average replacement cost is €5,200 per house.

At the beginning of 2011 there were 698 applications on hand for new windows.  A further 403 applications were received up to the end of the year.  193 of this total were completed during the year and 385 have still to be graded leaving a potential balance of 908 to be replaced.   It should be noted that windows are only replaced where the tenant/s' rent account is either clear or adhering to an agreement for a period of 6 months to clear the arrears.  Replacements are carried out countywide on date of application and rent account in order and available funding.  However, priority is given to senior citizens or those with special needs.

In the Clondalkin Area, 91 were replaced in 2010, which represented 45% of the total completions (203) and 76 were replaced in 2011, which represented 39% of total completions (193).