The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH), the national federation of non-profit housing associations who manage up to 27,000 homes for families and vulnerable groups, has expressed its concern at the inclusion of provisions in the new Water Charges Plan which will force landlords to hand over the deposits of tenants to Irish Water should they fail to engage with the company on the payment of arrears due on the account.
The recent ICSH Housing Finance Conference held in Limerick and supported by AIB received extensive media coverage, some of which is outlined below:
Wednesday, 8th October 2014
Broadcast
Speaking after the budget announcements today, Executive Director of the Irish Council for Social Housing, Mr Donal McManus welcomed the announcement saying ‘this is a first step to advancing a programme which will boost supply of social housing to those most in need’. He stated, ‘‘The ICSH has previously called for a multi annual development programme for social housing which benefits both those in housing need and the economy’.
The Irish Council for Social Housing today welcomed the decision to require developers to provide up to 10% of their housing units for social housing through Part V.
The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) has called on the Government to introduce a new funding model for social housing in the upcoming Budget in the form of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The purpose of this SPV would be to facilitate private financing of housing associations to deliver social housing which is ‘off balance sheet’.
Resources need to match new social housing strategy expectation
The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) has called on the Government to tackle the deepening housing crisis in Budget 2015 as a national priority. In its pre-budget submission the ICSH is calling for an expansion of the social housing programme to target the housing needs of the most vulnerable in society and those in priority need of affordable rental housing.
Completing the Annual Return
One of the main tools used by the regulation office to link in with housing associations for regulation purposes is the Annual Return Form. The section below works through the current Annual return form and provides guidance on information requested from specific sections.
What can be expected when we sign up?
The website for the Housing Agency Regulation Office is now live and can be accessed at www.housing.ie/regulation.
The website contains information on the Voluntary Regulation Code (VRC) as well as a list of approved housing bodies that have signed up to the VRC. The website also contains publications regarding the VRC, its charter of commitments and other governance issues.
A circular has recently been issued giving guidance to housing associations regarding the discharge of the mortgage deed where the mortgage deed has expired. The circular can be downloaded as follows:
Press Release
20th May 2014
The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) today welcomes the approval by Cabinet of the Implementation Plan on the State's Response to Homelessness.
Mr Donal McManus, Executive Director, ICSH said 'The measures outlined in the plan published today are wide ranging and practical and the ICSH welcome the key role which will be played by Approved Housing Bodies in its implementation'.