473. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost per unit of accommodation to carry out a social housing stock condition survey. [51391/26]

482. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline the high-level data on stock audits to date [51471/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 473 and 482 together.

Ultimately, the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock is the statutory responsibility of each local authority. Accordingly, they must make adequate budgetary provision as part of the annual budgetary process, drawing on the substantial rental and other income available to them, to address the maintenance and improvement needs of their social homes.

Notwithstanding, my Department is working closely with local authorities to promote a preventative and planned approach to the maintenance of social housing, informed by the findings of stock condition surveys. Local authorities continue to progress these surveys, with almost 18,000 completed to date. It is intended all local authority social homes will be surveyed over the next five years.

In 2026, €40 million has been made available under the Planned Maintenance and Voids Programme to complement local authorities' own investment in the maintenance and improvement of their social housing stock. Of this, €24 million is available to support the refurbishment and re-letting of vacant properties, while €16 million has been ring-fenced to support the completion of Stock Condition Surveys and the delivery of associated planned maintenance works arising from survey findings.

The Department provides a contribution of €150 towards the cost of each completed stock condition survey. This increases to €250 per survey where a local authority has completed surveys on at least 15% of its housing stock by the end of 2026, and has incurred the relevant expenditure. This contribution should be sufficient to meet the cost of surveys.

An average cost per survey taken has not been determined. The cost of completing a survey will likely vary from area to area; depend on the relative dispersal of the stock, whether the surveys are conducted directly by a local authority, contracted with external providers, or a mix of both; and, where contracted externally, will be informed by the scale of programme being tendered by the relevant local authority.

While my Department has access to high-level information, including the number of surveys completed, underway or tendered, and whether follow-up action has been identified, the detailed survey findings and the condition of individual local authority housing stocks are matters for the relevant local authorities.