COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, June 14, 2021
QUESTION NO. 20
QUESTION: Councillor Shane Moynihan
To ask the Chief Executive to provide the average relet time for void housing units for each month for the past three years and to account for the variation in same.
REPLY:
Within the Council’s housing stock, 103 properties were vacant at 31st May and at various stages of the re-let process. These 103 homes represented just over 1% of our housing stock, compared with a national average of 3.15% for the 2019 National Service Indicators.
The table below shows the monthly average relet time from January 2018 to December 2020 as reported in the Chief Executive’s Report – these monthly statistics are calculated based on the vacant properties re-tenanted in a given month divided by the number of weeks they are currently vacant and includes casual vacancies, acquired properties and Traveller specific accommodation with time taken for re-letting usually determined by the level of repair/refurbishment works required and the number of offers/refusals to housing applicants prior to allocation. In certain instances, additional factors have variously impacted the time taken for re-letting and these include estate management considerations, fire damage to properties, legal proceedings relating to prior tenancy etc. We are also encountering increasing numbers of older properties being re-let after long-term tenancies that require significantly enhanced levels of refurbishment while Covid-related restrictions have also resulted in changed work practices over the last fifteen months. The increasing number of vacant properties in recent years (an average of 61 in 2018 increasing to 98 in 2020) is also reflective of increased housing delivery which results in more current tenants transferring to more appropriate accommodation after awaiting transfers for overcrowding, rightsizing, medical or other reasons.
|
2020 |
Jan-20 |
Feb-20 |
Mar-20 |
Apr-20 |
May-20 |
Jun-20 |
Jul-20 |
Aug-20 |
Sep-20 |
Oct-20 |
Nov-20 |
Dec-20 |
Avg |
|
No. of Voids |
99 |
106 |
111 |
95 |
94 |
100 |
101 |
97 |
90 |
89 |
97 |
98 |
98.08 |
|
Time taken to re-let dwellings (weeks) |
19.21 |
19.23 |
19.65 |
19.43 |
19.12 |
20.56 |
20.66 |
19.71 |
19.84 |
18.56 |
19.22 |
19.43 |
19.55 |
|
2019 |
Jan-19 |
Feb-19 |
Mar-19 |
Apr-19 |
May-19 |
Jun-19 |
Jul-19 |
Aug-19 |
Sep-19 |
Oct-19 |
Nov-19 |
Dec-19 |
Avg |
|
No. of Voids |
82 |
80 |
85 |
88 |
83 |
82 |
68 |
80 |
84 |
86 |
87 |
99 |
83.66 |
|
Time taken to re-let dwellings (weeks) |
23.13 |
18.43 |
20.59 |
20.07 |
21.45 |
19 |
18.84 |
17.57 |
14.46 |
15.27 |
15.07 |
16.81 |
18.39 |
|
2018 |
Jan-18 |
Feb-18 |
Mar-18 |
Apr-18 |
May-18 |
Jun-18 |
Jul-18 |
Aug-18 |
Sep-18 |
Oct-18 |
Nov-18 |
Dec-18 |
Avg |
|
No. of Voids |
46 |
42 |
42 |
58 |
52 |
52 |
61 |
76 |
71 |
72 |
76 |
87 |
61.25 |
|
Time taken to re-let dwellings (weeks) |
8.14 |
16.69 |
15.71 |
18.51 |
18.49 |
16.86 |
15.21 |
15.05 |
13.86 |
17.27 |
15.36 |
17.41 |
15.71 |
A significant element of the re-let process is the performance of contractors carrying out much of the works involved and the current contractors are coming to the end of the period of contract with submissions under a new procurement process for refurbishment of vacant dwellings currently being evaluated. It is anticipated that performance under the new framework will improve turnaround times and value for money.
In conjunction with the new framework, a cross Housing Department working group is examining how to further improve and reduce the time frames and costs associated with re-let works to maximise the use of our housing assets by re-letting homes as quickly as possible. This includes using the new integrated housing system to achieve improved interaction across allocations, estate management, housing maintenance and contractors to improve performance with a particular focus on reducing prolonged void periods or a high concentration of voids in certain areas.
National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) annual service indicators reports show the average time taken from vacancy of a standard Council property (excluding acquired or Traveller specific accommodation) to the date it is subsequently re-tenanted, which is different from the criteria reported in the monthly Chief Executive’s Report as outlined above, and for which the national average for 2019 was 28.17 weeks.