Housing charity seeks a full disclosure on empty houses acquired by NAMA

The Irish Council for Social Housing, the National Social Housing federation, has written to NAMA seeking a full disclosure of the portfolio of vacant houses that are part of the NAMA loan book, in order to examine which are suitable for social housing purposes.

Donal McManus Executive Director of the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) stated “the ICSH has outlined to NAMA the steps which could be taken to expedite a process to ensure suitable homes can be taken over by housing associations rather than being allowed to lie empty and deteriorate”.

He continued “this includes identifying fit for purpose vacant properties across a number of criteria such as the local profile for social housing, types of housing required, suitable services and facilities in place as well as adherence to planning, legal and building warranty issues”.

The ICSH has highlighted how vacant properties acquired by NAMA could be purchased by housing associations to aid the reduction of the number of people on the Local Authority housing waiting lists, which stands at over 56,000 households. Mr McManus noted that “as there is effectively now no private market for housing in some areas, any valuations on these properties would need to reflect reductions in the market price on a scale of up to 80%”.

Mr. McManus also stated that “the clock is ticking on some ghost estates and the longer this process takes the less housing there will be for housing associations to acquire. It is imperative we know the number and the location of housing units that can be salvaged from the NAMA property portfolio”.

He concluded “it must also be established which local Authorities do not have an over-hang of housing units such as Wicklow County Council, so that housing needs in these areas can be met through specific programmes”.

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For further information contact Donal McManus on 01 6618334

Media Notes:

• The Irish Council for Social Housing is the National Federation of social housing organisations with over 300 housing associations affiliated nationwide.
• Housing associations in Ireland in Ireland collectively manage housing with over 24,000 homes for families, older people, formerly homeless persons and people with disabilities in every local authority area and housing associations serve over 500 local communities.
• The Irish Council for Social Housing is a member of the Community and Voluntary Pillar of Social Partnership.