QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government if a full review of the pyrite remediation scheme with a view to including all homes with a category 1 rating in the scheme will be carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government his views on the exceptional circumstances clause when accessing appeals of refusals for applications to the pyrite remediation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.


REPLY

The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board and for the making of a pyrite remediation scheme to be implemented by the Board with support from the Housing Agency. The pyrite remediation scheme is a scheme of “last resort” for affected homeowners who have no other practical option to obtain redress and is limited in its application and scope. The full conditions for eligibility under the scheme are set out in the scheme which is available on the Board’s website, www.pyriteboard.ie.
 
The scheme is applicable to dwellings which are subject to significant damage attributable to pyritic heave established in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2017 - Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol.  In this regard, it is a condition of eligibility under the scheme that an application to the Board must be accompanied by a Building Condition Assessment with a Damage Condition Rating of 2.  Dwellings which do not have a Damage Condition Rating of 2 are not eligible to apply under the scheme.  This ensures that, having regard to the available resources, the focus of the scheme is on dwellings which are most severely damaged by pyritic heave.  I have no proposals to amend this eligibility criterion.
Where a dwelling, otherwise not eligible for inclusion in the scheme, adjoins a dwelling already included in the scheme, such a dwelling may be considered in accordance with the exceptional circumstance provisions set out in section 17 of the Act. Section 17 provides that exceptional circumstances may apply where -
- failure to include a dwelling in the scheme may result in damage to that dwelling or damage to the dwelling being remediated under the scheme, or
- pyrite remediation work is causing or may cause damage to a dwelling.
The Housing Agency will consider if exceptional circumstances apply when the Remedial Works Plan is being drawn up and the Board will be informed of any recommendation for a decision in the matter.  To date, one dwelling has been included in the pyrite remediation scheme under the exceptional circumstances provisions of the Act. My Department is in regular contact with the Board and the Housing Agency in relation to the implementation of the scheme and is satisfied with the arrangements that are currently in place, including in relation to appeals.
The Report of the Pyrite Panel (June 2012) recommended a categorisation system as a means of prioritising pyrite remediation works in recognition of the expensive and intrusive nature of pyrite remediation and the unpredictability of pyritic heave. The independent Pyrite Panel was clear in its view that only dwellings with significant damage due to pyritic heave should be remediated and that it would be unreasonable to expect dwellings not exhibiting such damage to be remediated.
Dwellings which have no significant damage but have reactive pyrite in the hardcore material should be monitored and only remediated if they display significant damage due to pyritic heave. This remains the position with regard to dwellings which do not display significant pyritic damage.
The latest figures available indicate that a total of 2,179 applications have been received under the pyrite remediation scheme.  Of the 2,179 applications received so far, 1,727 dwellings have been included in the pyrite remediation scheme and the applicants notified accordingly.
A further 105 applications have been validated and referred to the Housing Agency for the Assessment and Verification Process, while another 214 applications are at the initial Application and Validation Process. 133 applications under the scheme were not successful.
Of the 1,727 dwellings that have been included in the pyrite remediation scheme:
- 136 are at remedial works planning stage,
- 106 are at tender / tender analysis,
- 248 are under remediation, and  
- 1,237 are complete.
A sum of €30 million was announced under Budget 2018 to fund the operation of the pyrite remediation scheme this year. This allocation will facilitate the remediation of some 430 additional dwellings in 2018.
 A sum of €32 million was announced under Budget 2019 to fund the operation of the pyrite remediation scheme next year. This allocation will facilitate the remediation of some 460 additional dwellings and is a clear signal of the continuing importance attached by Government to addressing the issue of significant pyritic damage in private dwellings.

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the way in which the 4,800 SCHEP funded homes listed on page 115 of the Budget 2019 Expenditure Report related to the other targets for build, acquisition, long-term leasing, RAS and HAP detailed in pages 114 and 115 of the Report.

- Eoin Ó Broin T.D.

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the budget for the social housing current expenditure programme in 2019.

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the budget for the rental accommodation scheme in 2019.

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the budget allocation for long-term leases in 2019.


REPLY

All three of the current expenditure funded schemes – the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) - are critical components of the accelerated delivery of social housing envisaged under Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness.
 
The annual cost of the three schemes to the exchequer is made up of the continuing cost of supporting the tenancies and contracts in place at the end of the previous year, and the additional cost of the new tenancies and contracts supported over the course of the year to which the allocation relates. The cost of the schemes in future years is therefore dependent on the number of new social housing homes and tenancies falling to be funded within each of the schemes and the rental or lease payments involved.
 
The Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) is a funding programme that supports the delivery of social housing by providing financial support to local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) for the long term leasing of houses and apartments from private owners and developers.
 
The SHCEP budget funds the ongoing current costs of homes delivered using a variety of different delivery mechanisms, including properties built or acquired by AHBs using funding under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) and leased to local authorities; properties leased on a longterm basis from private property owners by AHBs or local authorities, including properties secured through specific programmes such as the Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) and the Enhanced Leasing Scheme. Therefore, SHCEP is a complementary funding stream to a range of capital expenditure programmes like RLS, CALF and the Mortgage to Rent Scheme.
 
The 2019 budgetary provision for the SHCEP is €155 million which represents an increase of €40 million on the 2018 provision. This is expected to fund the ongoing cost of the existing social housing homes secured with support of the Programme at the end of 2018 which will amount to almost 14,000. In addition, over 4,800 new social housing homes, targeted for delivery across the build, acquisitions and leasing streams in 2019 are to be funded under the Programme.
 
The breakdown of the new social housing homes, by delivery stream, to be funded by SHCEP 2019 is set out in the table below:

Delivery   Type      2019   (Target)
Build    1,988
Acquisition    700
 Leasing       2,130
 Total    4,818

The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) introduced in 2005 placed responsibility on local authorities to meet the accommodation needs of people in receipt of Rent Supplement for 18 months or longer, and who are assessed as having a long-term housing need. RAS has provided a more structured, accommodation-based approach to the use of the private rented sector to meet long-term housing need, thereby eliminating dependence on temporary income support payments through Rent Supplement.
€134.3 million is being provided to support RAS in 2019, and this funding will go towards supporting 600 additional RAS tenancies targeted to be achieved by local authorities in 2019, and the ongoing cost of supporting approximately 19,200 continuing RAS contracts expected to be in place at the end of 2018.
 Funding of €422m is being made available for HAP under Budget 2019. This will provide for the continued support of existing HAP households and also enable the additional 16,760 households targeted under Rebuilding Ireland to be supported by HAP in 2019, as well as supporting the roll-out of the Homeless HAP Place Finder Support Service across the country.
The Homeless HAP Place Finder Service is now available to each of the 31 local authorities, with the options to pay deposits and advance rental payments for any households in emergency homeless accommodation, in order to secure accommodation via the HAP Scheme.

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the budget for HAP in 2019.

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the budget for homeless HAP in 2019.


REPLY

Under Budget 2019, the total Exchequer funding available for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), including Homeless HAP, next year is €422m. This funding will provide for the continued support of existing HAP households and also enable the additional 16,760 households targeted under Rebuilding Ireland to be supported by HAP in 2019, as well as supporting the roll-out of the Homeless HAP Place Finder Support Service across the country.
The Homeless HAP Place Finder Service is now available to each of the 31 local authorities, with the options to pay deposits and advance rental payments for any households in emergency homeless accommodation, in order to secure accommodation via the HAP Scheme.

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the breakdown of the capital budget for housing in 2019.

REPLY

Capital funding of over €1.4 billion has been allocated for housing in 2019, an increase of 24% over the 2018 provision.  The provisional breakdown, which will be finalised in the context of the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2019 to be published later this year, is set out in the table below.
 
               HOUSING (€000)*    1,334,000
               LOCAL AUTHORITY HOUSING*    747,471
               CAPITAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME    94,875
               COMMUNAL FACILITIES    500
               MORTGAGE TO RENT    23,000
               CAPITAL ADVANCE LEASING   FACILITY    94,400
               TRAVELLER ACCOMMODATION & SUPPORT    13,000
               ESTATE REGENERATION/REMEDIAL WORKS    71,750
               ENERGY EFFICIENCY-RETROFITTING    30,454
               REPAIR AND LEASING SCHEME    38,000
               PRIVATE HOUSING GRANTS    57,000
               MORTGAGE ALLOWANCES    600
               INFRASTRUCTURE FUND    130,000
               PYRITE RESOLUTION BOARD    32,000
               RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES   BOARD/INSPECTIONS    950

 
*An additional €77m is being provided by certain local authorities through LPT self-funding.
 
 
 

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the average and total cost of non-departmental funded Part V units in 2017; if the units were new builds or existing on-site or off site; the funding stream that purchased them; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

Agreement on Part V arrangements is a matter for local authorities. The current options available to local authorities for Part V delivery are:
• the transfer of ownership of land, subject to the planning permission application, to a local authority for the provision of social housing remains the default option as is currently the case. The land option must be acceptable to the local authority, as well as the developer;
• the building and transfer of ownership to the local authority, or persons nominated, of completed social housing units on the site subject to the planning permission;
• the transfer of ownership to the local authority, or persons nominated, of completed social housing units on other land;
• the Part V obligation can now be fulfilled by developers through long term leasing of properties; and
• a combination of the options above.

In relation to Part V units that are not funded through my Department's Schemes, my Department only collects data in relation to the number of units and does not hold information on the cost of the units involved. Published statistical information is available at the following link:
 https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/statistics/affordable-housing/affordable-housing-and-part-v-statistics.