COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, March 12, 2012
Headed Item No. 4e) (i)
REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE
HOUSING AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD ON THURSDAY 27th FEBRUARY, 2012
PRESENT:
Members: Council Officials:
| Cllr B. Bonner | B. Coman | Director of Services |
| Cllr M. Corr | H. Hogan | Senior Executive Officer |
| Cllr M. Duff | M. Fagan | Senior Executive Officer |
| Cllr T Gilligan | E. Conlon | Staff Officer |
| Cllr P. Kearns | ||
| Cllr G. Kenny | ||
| Cllr C King | ||
| Cllr B. Lawlor | ||
| Cllr D Looney | ||
| Tommy Gilson , Community / Voluntary / Disadvantaged | ||
| Betty Tyrrell Collard, Dept Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Trade Union | ||
| Anne-Marie Dermody | ||
Councillor M. Corr chaired the meeting.
H-I(1) MINUTES
The minutes of the Housing and Social Development Strategic Policy Committee Meeting held on 10th November, 2011 were proposed by Councillor M. Corr seconded by Councillor P. Kearns 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) CHOICE BASED LETTING
The following report which had been circulated was NOTED:
“The development of the C B L scheme over the last 12 months and phased introduction in October 2011 has proven very successful. Now that the scheme has been rolled out to all applicants on South Dublin County Council’s housing list, the benefits for Allocations Section are beginning to manifest themselves in recent times and have resulted in the redistribution of staff within the Section to concentrate on traditional backlogs
· Assessment of approx 70 new transfer applications
· and re-assessment of approx 1600
· 30 mutual transfer applications in order to progress offers,
· Updating of Mutual Transfers register, (new website will be on offer her in the future)
· Managers Orders for the granting of tenancies. Currently approx 4 years backlog,
· Housing Assessments (scheduled appointments now down to 3 week waiting period from 6 weeks- 10 interviews daily )
· Transfer of Tenancy applications and addressing of tenancy issues.
Traditionally, in order to keep abreast of these aspects of assessment and letting process required O/ T and in latter times time in lieu. Allocations section have also dedicated a staff member to carry out re-assessment of housing applicants for ASH and RAS purposes – approximately 60 applicants, per mailing, will be contacted in this regard.
Until the launch of C B L the Allocations process had become very laborious due to the very high number of refusals and subsequent paperwork required . At this moment 97% of vacant properties have been advertised and accepted through C B L thereby facilitating the turnaround of these properties a s a p .
The C B L system has been particularly successful in attracting prospective tenants for the more difficult to let areas as applicants knew the issues but were happy to make the selection.
For each advertised dwelling Allocations Section will have a list of, on average, 53 prospective tenants, who have expressed interest in the dwelling. To date 70 dwellings have been advertised, expressions of interest have been received for all.”
Mr. H. Hogan, Senior Executive Officer, summarised the report. The turnaround time for reletting vacant units will be kept to a minimum. It was noted that South Dublin County Council has the lowest number of vacant units by far. Housing Assessments scheduled appointments are now down to a 3 week waiting period from 6 weeks and the aim is to reach 2 weeks.
Following a discussion to which Councillors C. King, M. Corr 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.
H-I(4) MORTGAGE TO RENT SCHEME
Mr. B. Coman, Director of Services, gave a Presentation.
The Mortgage to Rent Scheme commenced with Cluid Housing Association and AIB on a pilot basis in the Dublin Region. The aim is to aid very distressed mortgage borrowers to move to renting their home instead of owning it. The borrowers may apply to their bank and discuss this as an option. The rent will be assessed as Differential Rent. It is noted that South Dublin County Council have a low level of loan arrears in comparison with other local authorities.
Mr. B. Coman, Director of Services, stated that once more information came to hand he would discuss it with the members and envisaged the possible set up of a sub-committee to deal with the concept. This should occur in four to five weeks time.
Following a discussion to which Councillors M. Corr, D. Looney, C. King, B. Bonner, B. Lawlor and P. Kearns contributed, Mr. B. Coman, Director of Services, and Mr. M. Fagan, Senior Executive Officer, responded to queries raised.
It was agreed to bring a further update to the members as soon as further developments on the scheme occur.
The report was NOTED.
H-I (5) BUILD TO LEASE
The following report which had been circulated was NOTED:
“As members will be aware, the council is always very keen to pursue every possible available avenue to procure social homes for those on our housing waiting lists. This can be witnessed by the setting up of the Procurement Unit, the RAS and Social Housing Leasing Initiative and the ASH pilot project.
We now want to utilise an additional procurement route--The Build to Lease Scheme.
In this scheme the council will supply suitable sites to developers who will build up to 30 homes per site which the council will then lease for 20 years for social use. The site value will be calculated at the beginning of the lease period and the council will be recompensed to this value by way of the transfer of ownership of the number of homes that equate to this value at the end of the lease period.
We have had a number of enquiries--some tentative some more advanced --from potential developers about this scheme and are at present examining a number of possible sites with a view to advancing this scheme. Any site that is to be marketed for this initiative will have to be put to public tender and the terms for disposal of any site for this purpose will be subject to Council approval.
Members will be briefed of any developments.”
Mr. M. Fagan, Senior Executive Officer, summarised the report.
Following a discussion to which Councillors M. Corr, B. Lawlor and C. King contributed Mr. M. Fagan, Senior Executive Officer, and Mr. B. Coman, Director of Services, responded to queries raised.
The report was NOTED.
H-I (6) MAINTENANCE OF TRAVELLER SITES
The following report which had been circulated was NOTED:
“South Dublin has provided in excess of 100 Group houses and 79 Permanent bays within 10 RCP sites as well as 30 temporary or emergency Bays for the Travellers in this County. There is no traveller in either temporary or emergency accommodation that has not been offered permanent accommodation.
Accordingly it was decided that it was time to review the focus and workings of the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee (LTACC) to advise on the management and maintenance of sites as well as provision of accommodation for travellers.
At this time 2 sub committees have been established:
To review and update needs assessment of the existing travellers within the County and prioritise the TAP in accordance with that assessment.
Management of Sites sub committee: It was agreed that this must have traveller representatives on this committee to make it effective. The draft terms of reference for the sub committee are
Draft Terms of Reference for sub committee
· To build on the success and experience of SDCC in managing traveller accommodation by focusing on a great participation of travellers and on building better relationships between the traveller community and the wider settled community.
· In so doing to explore ways and means of how travellers might be involved in this process. For this process to be successful it is imperative that travellers engaged and proactive in the process.
In this process the following aspects could be examined and included
· The challenges involved and distinguish between those that are cultural and those that are not
· Tenant participation initiatives
· Identification and initiating actions to address conflict, Anti social behaviour, gender based violence and addiction.
· To develop education initiatives
· To examine the possibility of enterprise initiatives that relate to the traditional activities of travellers
· To examine and possible solutions to horse ownership by travellers
A new tender for Caretaking services is being prepared and will be advertised in the near future. The possibility of the new caretakers being authorised to deal with Littering offences and dumping is currently being examined.”
Mr. H. Hogan, Senior Executive Officer, summarised the report. The need for traveller involvement was stressed. The illegal and anti-social actions of a minority of travellers on particular sites would be dealt with in conjunction with the Gardai, Social Welfare and other relevant authorities/state agencies.
Following a discussion to which Councillors M. Corr, D. Looney, and C. King contributed Mr. H. Hogan, Senior Executive Officer and Mr. B. Coman, Director of Services, responded to queries raised.
The report was NOTED.
H-I (7) ANY OTHER BUSINESS
It was NOTED there was no business under this heading.
The meeting concluded at 7.05 pm