South Dublin County Council

I am writing to submit an application under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 2014. My request pertains to certain records related to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and their vacant units in your Council area. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in providing the following information. In response to a recent press query seeking specific data on Approved Housing Bodies, I was informed by the Council’s communications department that there in 2023, there were 16 AHB units that “fall under various categories such as hard to let, works required, legal issues etc.” With regard to those 16 vacant units, I am hereby requesting the following records: a. A comprehensive list of the aforementioned units, including their respective addresses and the names of the AHBs responsible for owning/managing each of these units, and the length of time these units have remained vacant as of January 2023. Please note: I would like to bring to your attention the 2015 Value-for-Money report on Approved Housing Bodies issued by the Local Government Auditor. The report emphasizes the necessity for local authorities to maintain a management information system encompassing details of all properties provided by AHBs, whether purchased, built, or leased units. It states: “The local authorities need to operate a management information system which maintains details of all properties provided by the AHBs (whether purchased/built or leased units), and should be agreed periodically with the Department. Details of the tenants of each property, nomination details, and rent scheme details should also be maintained. The system should also track details of voids, length of time for re-lets, details of property inspections etc.” Given this recommendation, I assume that the Council has access to the requested information through its property management system, rendering it eligible for release under section 17(4) of the FOI Act. This section mandates FOI bodies to undertake reasonable efforts to search for and extract data, even if a new record is not created. b. I am also requesting copies of the Annual Statements of Occupancy for each vacant unit covering the years 2020, 2021, and 2022. Please note: The 2015 Value-for-Money report states that AHBs should submit annual statements of occupancy to the local authorities for all properties funded by the latter. The report states: “It is recommended that an annual statement of occupancy should be submitted by the AHBs to the local authority for all properties funded by the local authorities.” c. Finally, I seek access to any communications exchanged between the AHBs responsible for owning/managing the aforementioned vacant units, and your Council's Housing Section, that pertain to the vacant units. The timeframe I am referring to for these communications is from 2020 to the present. I kindly request that the information be made available in electronic format.