COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF LUCAN/PALMERSTOWN/FONTHILL AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

MOTION NO. 12

MOTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

That this Area Committee asks the Chief Executive for a report detailing the role and function of Accredited Housing Bodies (AHB) in the provision of housing for persons on the housing list, and to include in his reply the process and procedure by which these bodies come to acquire and manage housing, the role of the Local Authority, if any, in (a) agreeing to an AHB acquiring a house(s) or housing units in the LAC (b) the financing of the an AHB (c) selecting possible tenants (d) the role of the local community at any stage, and, (e) the subsequent management of the house(s) and or housing units. And that a full discussion take place.

REPORT:

Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are not for profit bodies that provide and manage social housing. The Government’s Housing Plan, Rebuilding Ireland, identifies a key role for AHBs and commits to enabling the sector to play a central role in the effort to meet social housing needs.  AHBs have evolved in a short timeframe from the traditional grant-funded model to greater use of a loan finance approach.  The partnership approach between AHBs, Local Authorities and Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government (DHPLG) is essential for the achievement of the housing programme detailed in Rebuilding Ireland.   To date, over €700m in loans approved from private institutions and the Housing Finance Agency has been made available to AHBs for the delivery of social housing.

The procedure for managing communications between the local authority and AHBs was formalised in an agreed Communications Development Protocol between Local Authorities and AHBs for social housing provision in 2016.  This Protocol was developed and adopted by the four Dublin Local Authorities to ensure an effective management procedure for the delivery of social housing in the Dublin region.  It also provides a transparent, fair and administratively streamlined process through which each Local Authority engages with AHBs.  The four areas of delivery covered under the Protocol are:

  1. Schemes on LA/State owned land
  2. AHB led schemes involving partnering with private developers
  3. Schemes with Part V units
  4. Schemes on AHB owned (or acquired) land

The Council manage opportunities for AHBs under these four delivery methods with AHBs invited to submit individual proposals that are assessed in relation to:

Following consideration of a proposal from an AHB, the Council will decide whether or not to support the proposal in principle.  If support in principle is given, the AHB then must examine how it will fund the proposal.  Such funding is usually through a loan from a financial institution or from the Housing Finance Agency and funding approval must also be sought from the DHPLG by the AHB.

AHBs projects are funded by under a number of different sources:

Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) funding is a capital support provided to AHBs through the Council from the DHPLG to assist with financing the construction or acquisition of units to be provided for social housing use.  A maximum of 30% of capital funding for the scheme can be advanced to the AHB under CALF and the balance of funding must be raised privately by the AHB through a loan from either a financial institution or the Housing Finance Agency.  The CALF capital funding advanced through the Council from the DHPLG is provided as a loan which accrues interest at a fixed rate of 2% per annum and must be repaid once the AHB’s private loan is repaid in full.  The AHB then enters into a Payment & Availability Agreement (PAA) with the Council for the use of the units being provided for social housing for the lifetime of the loan.  CALF and PAA have been the key drivers of growth in housing delivery by the AHB sector.  CALF is unsecured and has allowed the AHBs to leverage increased access to funding ultimately supporting increased social housing supply.

The Council has 100% nomination rights for social homes provided by Approved Housing Bodies with tenants allocated from our Housing List in accordance with the Allocations Scheme.

Quarterly housing supply reports are provided to Area Committees showing progress on housing delivery across local electoral areas including schemes being delivered through the AHBs where funding has been approved by the DHPLG.  The process from its inception to approval can be lengthy but once DHPLG approval has been received by the AHB, the local elected members are notified through the updated supply reports.  In addition, AHBs have significant experience engaging with local community representatives including in their communications regarding proposed new developments.

The Council work closely with all the AHBs who manage and maintain social housing units within the County.  There is ongoing tenancy management to ensure allocation of vacant homes from the Council’s Housing List, minimising vacancy periods and managing other tenancy issues as necessary.  Since April 2016, all AHB properties are also required to be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) in accordance with regulations made under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015.