COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, October 09, 2023

QUESTION NO. 20

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the CEO in respect of the Relets issue, will he please detail the number of vacant Council houses across the County and will he confirm actions he is taking in the matter?

REPLY:

The following is the current breakdown of SDCC Vacant Home Properties within the county.

Electoral Area	Survey	In Progress	Ready	Total
Lucan	1	1	2	4
Clondalkin	2	2	1	5
Palmerstown-Fonthill	5	11	8	24
Tallaght South	0	24	7	31
Tallaght Central	0	7	1	8
Firhouse-Bohernabreena	0	2	0	2
Rathfarnham-Templeogue	0	0	2	2
Total	8	47	21	76

Following a review of the vacant home process in 2022, a number of process improvements have been implemented to help reduce the length of time a property remains vacant. In May 2023, following a procurement competition, Housing Maintenance have increased the number of contractors available from two to five. Since the increased number of contractors, the back log of properties vacant, have been allocated to contractors and works completed.

Since the revisions of the vacant home process and increasing contractor availability, there have been significant improvements in the delivery of vacant properties up to the end of Q3. Since the 1st March 2023, the number of current vacant homes has reduced from 121 homes to 76 homes, a reduction of 38%, with a vacancy rate of the SDCC housing Stock of less than 0.8%. In relation to the number of properties awaiting works to commence, this has reduced from 55 homes on 1st March 2023 to 8 homes currently, a reduction of 85%. The total number of re-let properties allocated since the start of 2023 is 160 homes, an increase of 15% for the same period in 2022, and an increase of 64% for the same period in 2021. Turnaround times currently is approximately 25 weeks.

Housing Maintenance will continue to identify and implement measures to reduce turnaround times to a maximum target of 20 weeks.