Special City Council Meeting 27/01/2014

Transcription

1 Special City Council Meeting 27/01/2014 COMHAIRLE CATHRACH BHAILE ÁTHA CLIATH Miontuairiscí Chruinniú Speisialta a tionóladh ar 27 Eanáir 2014 i Seomra na Comhairle, Halla na Cathrach, Cnoc Chorcaí ag 6.45 i.n. I Láthair an tardmheara Oisín Quinn sa chathaoir. Comhairleoir: Comhairleoir: Comhairleoir Gerry Ashe Kieran Binchy Paddy Bourke Gerry Breen Christy Burke Clare Byrne Anthony Connaghan Pat Crimmins Pat Dunne Mary Fitzpatrick Mannix Flynn Mary Freehill Jane Horgan-Jones Sheila Howes Vincent Jackson Dermot Lacey Mícheál Mac Donncha Ray McAdam Paul McAuliffe Paddy McCartan Brian McDowell Hugh McGarr Ruairí McGinley Séamas McGrattan Padraig McLoughlin Lucy McRoberts Louise Minihan Andrew Montague Críona Ní Dhálaigh Jim O Callaghan Damian O Farrell Naoise Ó Muirí Larry O Toole Cieran Perry John Redmond Nial Ring Brid Smith Bill Tormey Henry Upton Oifigigh Owen Keegan Richard Brady Vincent Norton Celine Reilly Gerry Geraghty Cathal Morgan Evelyn Hanlon Eileen Gleeson Kieran Cunningham Daithi Downey Deirdre Ni Raghallaigh Una Joyce Lisa Kelliher Carmel Walsh Oonagh Casey 1. The Lord Mayor opened this Special Meeting, taking place to discuss the housing situation in Dublin City, by inviting the Assistant City Manager for the Housing & Residential Services Department, Mr Dick Brady, to make a presentation on the various aspects of the provision of social housing and rented accommodation to persons in Dublin City who are unable to provide private housing for themselves, including homeless persons. Mr Brady gave a comprehensive overview of the current models for the provision of social housing and the various schemes and policies that govern their provision and allocation. He stressed that funding was the major obstacle to the provision of housing and the repair of current aging housing stock. He then set out the various possible avenues to securing the capital funding. He gave the breakdown of the applicants into socio-economic and other categories. He noted particularly that 55% of applicants on the lists are single but the stock profile does not match this profile. Therefore he suggested that it might be timely to re-visit the bedsit policy. He

2 Special City Council Meeting 27/01/2014 outlined in detail the various Housing Policies and departmental regulations that govern the allocation of available housing stock and the schemes that supplement the cost of rental of private units. Mr Brady stressed the need for flexibility in the assessing the various methods of provision of social housing into the future and especially the role that can be played by the voluntary housing bodies and the private rental sector. Leasing by the City Council could also be factored in, he said, especially as units were now slowly becoming available through NAMA. For full details of this presentation, please see Appendix A to these minutes. The Members then discussed the various aspects of what they feel to be a housing crisis for Dublin City. They deplored the lack of adequate capital funding by central government over the last years in particular during the celtic tiger when money should have been available, they felt. They were particularly anxious that voids be turned around in the shortest possible time but acknowledged that much improvement had happened in the area of voids. Staff and management of the Housing & Residential Services Department were complimented by the Members for their hard work and commitment in very difficult circumstances and acknowledged that all were most helpful in providing any assistance that was possible, both to customers and to councillors. Several suggestions were put forward by Members as possible solutions to the funding problem and many queries were raised by Members on various aspects of the situation. Mr Dick Brady provided clarification in reply to the many queries and gave insights into the pros and cons of the various suggestions. Members then agreed to suspend Standing Orders to put forward motions from the floor and the Lord Mayor agreed to take these motions in the order in which he received them. Several Members commented on the constructive approach taken by all Members in the Chamber during this debate and the lack of political pointscoring among the various parties. MOTIONS (put forward from the floor) Motion No 1 submitted in the names of Councillors C Burke, N Ring, C Perry, L Minihan, P Dunne, B Smith and V Jackson :- a) That this City Council seeks a meeting with Minister Phil Hogan to seek special funds to allow DCC to purchase housing units and build units in the City b) That this City Council seeks a meeting the CEO of NAMA (Mr Daly) to seek units from NAMA that are empty in the City. c) That this City Council agrees that a task force be set up to address and put back into housing stock the large number of voids in the City, This Motion was put to a roll call vote and agreed. For full details of the vote, please see Appendix B to these minutes. Motion No 2 submitted in the names of Councillor R McGinley and seconded by Councillor B Tormey as follows :- That this City Council agrees to amend the current letting policy of allocating 50% of lettings to the Transfer List to a new policy of allocating 25% of lettings

3 Special City Council Meeting 27/01/2014 to the Transfer List. The 25% of lettings released would be applied 12.5% to Housing List and 12.5% to Homeless List. This new policy to be effective from 1 st March 2014 The motion was put to a vote and declared to be defeated. Motion No 3 submitted in the name of Councillor L O Toole, S McGrattan, Anthony Connaghan, M Mac Donncha and C Ní Dhálaigh a) That Dublin City Council agree to immediately investigate the possibility of alternative funding models to allow Local Authorities access funding via the Housing Finance Agency, such at the establishment of independent housing trusts allowing them to source financing independent of the national debt in order to build much needed social housing and to maintain existing housing stock. b) That this council calls, on the Minister for housing to meet with a cross party delegation of Councillors to discuss the housing crisis in Dublin with a view to trying to form a plan to address this crisis. c) That this council calls on the Minister for Housing to use a combination of funding, from the National Pension Reserve Fund, European Investment Bank, incentivised private pension investment and the capital budget to deliver much needed social housing units through construction, purchase and renovation. d) That this council will resist any future rent increase in area s awaiting regeneration that are living in sub standard accommodation. This committee would also call for a full review of the rents charged to tenants who are in Dublin City Council substandard housing in particular those who reside in areas of failed regeneration and are awaiting new build or refurbishment. e) That the City Council calls for a review of the RAS Scheme. f) That the council calls on the Minister for housing to immediately publish the heads of Housing Misc. Bill. All the above motions a) to f) were agreed by the City Council Motion No 4 submitted in the names of Councillors N Ring, C Burke, V Jackson and B Tormey. a) That the Members agree that the current number of applicants who qualify for housing by DCC at 16,402 needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency as, even if those from the list living in private rented accommodation (8,674) and those living in private rented accommodation without rent supplement (2,175) are excluded, the remaining number of 5,553 is at crisis level and is unacceptable, given that the number housed from the housing list is just over 500 per annum (2013 figure) and this would indicate a waiting period of over 10 years for those the least time on the list b) That the Members agree that the housing department look at ways to publicise, promote and encourage landlords to use the Rental Accommodation Scheme so that the current figure of 1,500 units is substantially increased and that the target of 200 units for 2014 be substantially exceeded c) That the Members agree that the housing department should examine possible ways of letting out properties on the void list with the minimum amount of work carried to comply with all relevant legislation and regulations (e.g. Health & Safety,

4 Special City Council Meeting 27/01/2014 Fire Regulations, BER etc) and facilitate tenants willing to take a unit and complete minor repairs, improvements and decoration themselves d) That the Members agree that the Minister for the Environment should be requested to prioritise the work of the Housing Agency set up to have a co-ordinating role liaising with Local Authorities, Approved Housing Bodies and NAMA Asset Residential Property Services Ltd. (NARSPL),in order to speed up the provision of NAMA properties to local authorities in general, and Dublin City Council in particular, give that to date only 115 properties have been completed/contracted to DCC since the inception of the scheme two years ago e) That the Members agree that the current ratio of "transfers made" to "housed from the housing list" be maintained f) This motion was submitted in the names of Councillors. N Ring, C Ní Dhálaigh, C Burke, V Jackson and B Tormey :- That the Members agree that Dublin City Council housing department investigates and reports back to the members on possible changes to the rent assessment scheme which a. encourages tenants in oversize accommodation to consider transferring to more appropriately sized accommodation, b. reflects the standard of the accommodation occupied and c. encourages prompt payment of rent and non arrears of rent by, in some way, rewarding those consistently paid up to date All the above motions a) to f) were agreed by the City Council Motion No 5 submitted in the names of Councillor M Flynn and C Ni Dhalaigh That Dublin City Council immediately opens the bedsits that it has, for letting The motion was agreed. Motion No 6 submitted in the name of Councillor G Breen a) That Dublin City Council moves to issue a housing bond of 1 billion and uses this fund to get approximately 4,000 housing units either from NAMA, the private sector or directly tendering to building firms. Any social housing units should be in an integrated setting alongside private units etc. This motion was amended as follows by Councillor N Ring and G Breen :- That the Members agree to request the Minister for Finance to facilitate the issue by DCC of a housing bond of 1 billion for use to fund the purchase of housing for social housing purposes from NAMA, the private sector or by directly seeking tenders from the building industry. Furthermore, in order to ensure that the cost of such funding is neutral for DCC, the Members agree that the securitisation of the rental income flow be facilitated together with a credit to DCC from Government to reflect the savings on rent supplement and/or other housing subsidies The Amended motion was agreed. b) That this council calls on the government to end the prohibition on employment for people in receipt of rent allowance and put in place suitable arrangements to permit and incentivise work This motion was seconded by Councillor R McGinley and agreed. c) That this council agrees to review changes in standards being applied that may have decreased the availability of housing stock now or in the future to see do we need to reverse some of these changes to increase housing stock availability

5 Special City Council Meeting 27/01/2014 This motion was seconded by Councillor B Tormey and agreed. Mr Dick Brady agreed that a report would be prepared by him on the issues raised by Members and the agreed motions and would be brought, in the first instance, to the Housing Strategic Policy Committee and then to a full City Council meeting. The meeting concluded at 9.40pm. Correct. LORD MAYOR MEETINGS ADMINISTRATOR

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7 SPECIAL MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL ON 27/01/ APPENDIX A 24/02/2014 Special Housing Meeting 27/01/2014 Presentation by: Dick Brady, Assistant City Manager, Housing & Residential Services Dublin City Council Introduction The Assessment of Housing Need Housing Policy Housing Supply. 1

8 SPECIAL MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL ON 27/01/ APPENDIX A 24/02/2014 Housing Need Assessment 2013 Eligible for inclusion 16,171 Single Applicants 55% Single Parent Families 30% On Rent Supplement 53% Reliant on Social Welfare 77% Housing Policy 2

9 SPECIAL MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL ON 27/01/ APPENDIX A 24/02/2014 Housing Policy VISION Based on: Choice Fairness Equity across tenures Delivering quality outcomes for resources invested Objective Enable all households access good quality housing appropriate to household circumstances and in their particular community of choice Housing Policy Statement 2011 Move away from Capital intensive projects More extensive use of flexible delivery options. Expanded role for the Approved Housing Body (AHB) Housing Assistance Payment Making the Private Rented Sector a stable and attractive option 3

10 SPECIAL MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL ON 27/01/ APPENDIX A 24/02/2014 Housing Expenditure ,600,000, ,400,000,000 1,200,000,000 1,000,000, ,000,000 Current Capital 600,000, ,000, ,000, Decline in new provision 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 Vol & Co-op Housing Completions Local Authority Housing Acquisitions Local Authority Housing Completions 3,000 2,000 1,

11 SPECIAL MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL ON 27/01/ APPENDIX A 24/02/2014 Supply Delivery Options Grants New Build ) Regeneration, Special Refurbishment ) Needs, Traveller Purchase ) Specific Leasing, RAS Capital Advanced Leasing Facility (AHB) New build Refurbishment Purchase Public Housing Stock DCC DCC RAS AHB AHB RAS AHB L.T. Leasing 25, 791 Units 1,614 Units 3,600 Units 500 Units 121 Units Lettings

12 SPECIAL MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL ON 27/01/ APPENDIX A 24/02/2014 Public Housing Supply Supply/Year Total New Build DCC BRL AHB Other Total DCC Stock Detail Total Standard Housing Stock Apartments Houses 25,791units 13,336 Units 12,455 Units Traveller Specific Housing Stock Bays Houses 203 Units 62 Units 141 Units 6

13 SPECIAL MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL ON 27/01/ APPENDIX A 24/02/2014 Stock Issues Age of the stock particularly Apartments. Finance Stock Transfer Carrying out the work without wholesale detenanting Celtic Tiger Refurbishment/Redevelopment legacy. Finance Stock Transfer Bed Sit or Studio Development plan 55sqM, DOECLG Standard 45sqM, Actual size 26sqM. Two into One Re let only where there is demand (Current Policy) 7

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15 APPENDIX B to MINUTES OF the SPECIAL MEETING HELD ON 27 TH JANUARY 2014 ROLL CALL VOTE on MOTION NO.1 IN THE NAME OF COUNCILLOR CHRISTY BURKE COUNCILLORS FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN ABSENT COUNCILLORS FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN ABSENT Lord Mayor X Cllr Brian McDowell X Cllr Oisin Quinn Cllr Gerry Ashe X Cllr Hugh McGarr X Cllr Kieran Binchy X Cllr Ruairi McGinley X Cllr Paddy Bourke X Cllr Séamas McGrattan X Cllr Tom Brabazon X Cllr Padraig McLoughlin X Cllr Gerry Breen X Cllr Lucy McRoberts X Cllr Christy Burke X Cllr Sean Paul Mahon X Cllr Clare Byrne X Cllr Louise Minihan X Cllr Aine Clancy X Cllr Andrew Montague X Cllr Anthony Connaghan X Cllr Rebecca Moynihan X Cllr Pat Crimmins X Cllr Críona Ní Dhálaigh X Cllr Pat Dunne X Cllr Jim O Callaghan X Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick X Cllr Damian O Farrell X Cllr Declan Flanagan X Cllr Naoise Ó Muírí X Cllr Mannix Flynn X Cllr Mary O Shea X Cllr Mary Freehill X Cllr Michael O Sullivan X Cllr John Gallagher X Cllr Larry O Toole X Cllr Deirdre Heney X Cllr Maria Parodi X Cllr Jane Horgan-Jones X Cllr Cieran Perry X Cllr Sheila Howes X Cllr Anna Quigley X Cllr Vincent Jackson X Cllr John Redmond X Cllr Dermot Lacey X Cllr Nial Ring X Cllr Mícheál Mac Donncha X Cllr Brid Smith X Cllr Ray McAdam X Cllr Bill Tormey X Cllr Paul McAuliffe X Cllr Henry Upton X Cllr Paddy McCartan X Cllr Edie Wynne X FOR : 25 AGAINST : 0 ABSTAIN : 0 ABSENT : 27

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