Waterford City and County Council cited as "best practice" in Programme for Government
The proposed coalition government has detailed their commitment to "continue the Repair and Lease and Buy and Renew Schemes for five more years".
The work of Waterford City and County Council on the 'Repair and Lease' and 'Buy and Renew' schemes has been cited as "best practice" by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in the draft Programme for Government.
The proposed coalition government has detailed their commitment to "continue the Repair and Lease and Buy and Renew Schemes for five more years" with the target of "1,000 additional homes annually by building on best practice as demonstrated by Waterford City and County Council."
Waterford has led the way for use of the Repair and Lease scheme, with Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien saying “Waterford City and County Council is the leading local authority in delivering units under RLS", in April 2024.
“It participated in the original pilot scheme, commencing in October 2016," he said.
"To end 2023, Waterford has delivered 312 homes under RLS, 56 per cent of national delivery. This includes the largest RLS project to date, St Joseph’s House, Manor Hill, where 71 homes have been created in a previously vacant convent in a city centre location."
In May, Waterford City and County Council received €9m under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund to bring 130 vacant local properties back into use in the county.
Then-Senator John Cummins said that "huge progress" had been made under the schemes in Waterford.
“We are the national leaders in the Repair and Lease Scheme. We have had good numbers of units delivered via the introduction of the commercial to residential exemption from planning which I brought through the Joint Oireachtas Committee, and the Buy and Renew Scheme is working well too."
