COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, December 12, 2022
HEADED ITEM NO. 4 (i) Report of the Housing SPC, Wednesday 23 November 2022
Report of South Dublin County Council Housing SPC Meeting held at 5.30 p.m. on Wed 23 November 2022 at 5.30pm (Hybrid Meeting)
In attendance:
Cllr. D. O’Donovan, , Cllr. W. Carey, Cllr. L. Donaghy, Cllr. B. Lawlor, Cllr. K Mahon Cllr. S. Moynihan, Cllr. J. Tuffy, G. Stockil (PPN) S. Harty (PPN) and B. Tyrell-Collard (ICTU).
Apologies: None
Officials Present
C Ward (Director of Services), B. Pierce (Senior Executive Officer), N. Hanly (Senior Executive Officer), E. Leech (Senior Executive Officer), M. Murtagh (Administrative Officer), F. Keane (Senior Staff Officer) and Margaret Farrell (Clerical Officer).
Others present: John Hannigan, Chair & CEO of Circle VHA,
Camille Loftus, Executive Director, Housing Alliance
The Chairperson, Cllr. Deirdre O’Donovan opened the meeting at 5.30pm
1. Minutes of Previous Meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting of the committee, held on 8 September 2022 were noted and agreed.
2. Matters arising
There were no matters arising.
3. Presentation from the Approved Housing Bodies Housing Alliance
John Hannigan, Chair & CEO of Circle VHA and Camille Loftus, Executive Director of the Housing Alliance delivered a detailed presentation on their work. They explained that the Alliance is a collaboration between six of Ireland’s largest AHB’s with a focus on increasing supply & professionalism.
Their Primary purpose is to alleviate housing need by providing/managing homes. They are not-for profit organisation and are regulated by the Charities Regulator, RTB and the AHB Regulatory Authority.
Collectively, they have provided over 30,000 houses including Ireland’s first cost rental houses. They have a target of 12,000 new social homes in 2022-2024 and a target of 1,500 for new cost rental homes from 2022-2025. They reported that their tenant arrears as a percentage of rent due is low at 3% and have a 7-day average to complete reactive repairs.
They gave details of four new developments they are involved with including Catleview Park (Finnstown), Kilcarbery Grange, Scholarstown Wood and Somerton.
C Ward thanked both presenters for their time and said that SDCC is committed to developing an ongoing relationship with them.
There was questions and contributions from Cllr. W Carey, Cllr. J Tuffy, Cllr. B Lawlor, S Harty (PPN) and G Stockil (PPN).
J Hannigan responded to the questions informing the committee that he is open to direct communication with the Councillors should they have difficulty contacting individual AHB’s. In relation to the low arrears figure, they noted that theignificant tenant engagement to help manage the situation to the best possible outcome. They have focused teams supporting tenants on an ongoing basis and have a tenant advisory group where all policies are discussed before being implemented. It was noted that there is circa 10% of housing focused on those with a physical or intellectual disability and they partner with other organisations such as Walk and De Paul in relation to this. Regarding building costs and influence, they are seeing massive increases in costs like others across the sector and are currently engaging in some group schemes in the area of retrofitting to maximise savings.
4. AHB Communication Protocol
B Pierce delivered a presentation on the proposed AHB Communications Protocol. The context of this MOU and communications protocol is that there is increasing numbers of AHB social housing stock in South Dublin with over 2000 AHB managed homes and possible delivery of up to 1,700 new social homes under HDAP 2022-26 (50% of target required from AHBs).
There is Dublin Regional AHB forum that enables Local Authorities & AHBs to engage and co-ordinate on key work areas and priorities. Advocacy and the representative role of Local Elected Members requires a mechanism to facilitate their formal and other engagement with AHBs. The main objective is to provide clear memo of understanding for AHBs & Council stakeholders and incorporate existing formal arrangements & informal communications.
Ms Pierce asked for input/review from the SPC members on the draft protocol. The document has been forwarded to AHB representative organisations (Housing Alliance & Irish Council for Social Housing) for review and comment also. It would be desirable to have the MOU signed off by February 2023 but given the numbers involved (26 AHB’s), she understands this would be challenging.
There were questions from Cllr S Moynihan, Cllr J Tuffy, Cllr W Carey, and Cllr D O’Donovan.
B Pierce responded to the Cllrs Queries saying that there is no issue with members of the SPC sharing the document with relevant stakeholders and then feeding any suggested changes through committee members in a timely manner. The number of meetings with AHB’s hasn’t been specified in the proposed MOU but it is envisaged that the groups would be open to meeting if required.
Members were asked to give feedback to the SEO/Director by Friday 2 December.
The report was noted.
5. Social Housing Re-letting Process
E Leech delivered a presentation outlining the social housing re-let review results. The objective of the re-let process is to achieve refurbishment & re-let of vacant social homes with minimal delays & in line with best asset management practice. SDCC had an average turnaround time of 34.43 weeks in 2021 on 139 properties with an average cost of €22,400. To date in 2022, it stands at an average time of 28.78 weeks which is a 16% improvement in turnaround time and a 27% year-to-date increase in the number of properties.
Ms Leech advised of the revised approach to re-lets including maximising the planned maintenance and energy retro-fit programmes, improved internal collaboration between Allocations & Maintenance teams, enhanced management of the process through the integrated housing system and utilisation of the targeted approach to “hard-to-let” properties. A target of 16 weeks is being sought by the team to ensure that properties can be accessed sooner and to maximise rental income through reduced void periods.
There were questions and contributions from Cllrs Carey and O’Donovan in relation to reasons for long turnaround times and if lessons could be learnt from Dublin City Council given their number of 18 weeks turnaround time.
C Ward responded to the queries and suggested the shorter turnaround time could be linked to the different stock profile in the City where there have a large number of flats/apartments.
The report was noted.
6. Housing Delivery Report (Pre-recorded)
A pre-recorded presentation by B. Pierce was made available in advance of the meeting outlining the current status of the housing delivery programme.
The presentation noted that the current delivery figure would be 391 units by year end 2022 which is 98% of the delivery target
C Ward referred to a proposed public/private partnership site comprising of 120 social homes at Clonburris (Phase 5 near lynches Park) where they will be bringing a section 85 to the members in Q1 2023. This will allow Dublin City to progress that site on SDCC’s behalf.
There were questions and contributions from Cllrs Tuffy, Carey, Lawlor, Moynihan and Cllr O’Donovan enquiring about the timelines for the developments at Maplewood, Springfield, Homeville and Balgaddy. C Ward responded informing members that the site at Maplewood has a 3-month deadline for completion at present, with Maplewood a further 3 months after that. He doesn’t have a specific closing date for Balgaddy yet, but contractors have been appointed.
The report was noted.
7. Allocations Report (Pre-Recorded)
A pre-recorded presentation by N. Hanly was made available in advance of the meeting detailing housing allocations in 2022 as well as profiling the housing list with information on homeless, medical, refusals of offers of accommodation and age friendly need. There are a number of positives from the report including a figure of 528 year to date in allocations. Online applications will be launched next week.
There were questions and contributions from Cllrs O’Donovan, Lawlor, and Carey and G Stockil and S Harty of the PPN.
N Hanly responded to the queries informing members that the online application is currently in English only but should clients' need help with interpretation, it would be supported through customer care. He noted that there would also be a service provided for vulnerable clients.
Members were informed that clients who are late/do not reply to the Housing Needs Assessment initially, and their file is subsequently closed, could receive an exemption if they contact the council within six months of the HNA.
In relation to mutual transfer, if electrical work is required, it must take place in advance of the transfer.
N Hanly noted that he would include the rough sleeper's figure in his presentation for the next meeting once he has a figure to share.
The report was noted.
8. Items for Noting
Reports provided for the committee's information were noted in relation to the following:
- Healthy Age Friendly Homes Update (pre-recorded)
- Report from Housing Disability Steering Group
- Rightsizing Programme
- Leasing Overview
- Rent Assessment Protocol
The reports were noted.
9. Items Requested by Committee Members:
Reports provided in relation to agenda items requested by members of the Committee were noted for:
- Fire Safety Matters
C Ward reported that the Director of Environment Teresa Walsh manages the relationship with the Dublin Fire Brigade. He referenced the report from the meeting of the Dublin Inter-County Sub-Committee on Fire and Emergency Management where four councillors from SDCC represent the council.
G Stockil, PPN said he remains concerned that the county will not have a 42-foot ladder given the number of high-rise buildings. He said he would be raising his concerns with the PPN sub-committee also.
10. Any Other Business
Cllr O’Donovan suggested a presentation from the Chief Fire Officer and the Director agreed to make the request.
G Stockil asked if it would be possible for the committee to review the effect of SHD’s in the planning pipeline? The Director suggested it may be more aligned to the Planning SPC but he would bring a review of the SHD’s that is being completed by the council to the next meeting.
On request of S Harty PPN, the Director agreed to circulate the reports earlier to ensure adequate time to review by committee members.
There was no other business and the meeting concluded at 7.00 p.m.