Management and Maintenance of the Social Housing Stock

As more social homes are built, it’s important to make sure they are well-managed and properly maintained.

The Government is committed to a planned and strategic approach to managing social housing. This will help:

• Ensure homes meet rental standards
• Support climate action goals
• Provide safe, comfortable living conditions for tenants

Taking care of existing homes is just as important as building new ones, helping to create long-lasting, high-quality housing for everyone

Managing social housing well is important to keep vacancy levels low and make sure empty homes are re-let quickly. To help with this, homes should be regularly maintained so that only small repairs are needed when a tenant moves out.

Until a full planned maintenance system is in place, some homes will still need major repairs before they can be re-let. These repairs are funded through the "voids funding programme," which provides grants. On average, it costs €11,500 to get a home ready again, but more funding is available if needed.

The best approach is for councils to do only the essential repairs needed to meet housing standards, so homes can be re-let quickly. If bigger repairs are needed but aren’t urgent, they should be added to the council’s planned maintenance schedule to avoid delays in re-letting.

Another key factor in speeding up re-letting is improving how homes are allocated. Ideally, the new tenant should be chosen and have accepted the offer before the home is ready to be let. To support this, updated guidance will be provided and performance data for each council will be published annually.

As part of improving allocations, a code of practice will also be created to set a standard approach for allowing tenants in council and Approved Housing Body (AHB) homes to keep pets, where possible.

Social housing is a valuable public resource that needs to be protected for future generations. To support this, the Government will:

• Create a new funding programme to reduce the number of empty homes and speed up how quickly they’re re-let.
• Continue funding energy upgrades for council-owned homes, aiming to complete 36,500 upgrades to a B2 energy rating during the lifetime of this plan.
• Keep supporting grants for improvements to homes for older people and people with disabilities.
• Launch a new nationwide programme to regenerate and repair council-owned housing.
• Carry out surveys to check the condition of all council-owned social housing during this plan.

These actions will help move from a reactive approach (fixing problems as they arise) to a more planned and strategic way of managing and maintaining council housing, based on the results of the condition surveys.

Managing housing owned by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) is just as important. As part of a review of AHBs, the Department will look at whether they have enough income to meet housing standards, climate goals, and provide comfortable homes. If there are funding gaps, the Department will propose policies to help close them.