Minutes of Proceedings - 23 November 2021

Committee for Communities

Committee for Communities - Minutes of Proceedings Tuesday 23 November.pdf (63.95 kb)

Committee for Communities

Minutes of Proceedings

Tuesday 23 November 2021

Meeting Location: Room 30, Parliament Buildings, Belfast

Present:

Ms Paula Bradley MLA (Chairperson)

Ms Kellie Armstrong MLA (Deputy Chairperson)

Mr Andy Allen MLA

Mr Mark Durkan MLA

Ms Ciara Ferguson MLA

Mr Paul Frew MLA

Present by Video or Teleconference:

Mr Stephen Dunne MLA

Ms Áine Murphy MLA

Ms Aisling Reilly MLA

Apologies:
None

In Attendance:

Dr Janice Thompson (Assembly Clerk)

Mr Sean McCann (Assistant Clerk)

Ms Antoinette Bowen (Clerical Officer)

In Attendance by Video or Teleconference:

Ms Rachel Ashe (Clerical Supervisor)

The Deputy Chairperson, Kellie Armstrong, assumed the Chair. The meeting began at 9.05 am in closed session.

Aisling Reilly joined the meeting at 9.12 am.

The Chairperson, Paula Bradley, joined the meeting at 9.13 am and assumed the Chair. The meeting went into open session at 9.17am. The following Members were present at the start of the open session: Paula Bradley, Kellie Armstrong, Andy Allen, Mark Durkan, Stephen Dunne, Ciara Ferguson, Paul Frew, Aisling Reilly, and Áine Murphy.

Declaration of Interests:

Andy Allen declared an interest as a private landlord.

Stephen Dunne declared an interest as a private landlord.

Paul Frew declared an interest as a private landlord and as a qualified electrician.

1. Apologies

There were no apologies.

2. Minutes

Agreed: The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 16 November 2021.

3. Private Tenancies Bill Papers

The Chairperson informed Members that they had been provided with a Departmental response to Committee questions on the Bill. The Committee was content to note the response.

The Chairperson informed Members that for the deliberations starting on Thursday, they have been provided with four tables summarising the written evidence received by the Committee.

The Committee was content to note.

4. Briefing by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive on the Private Tenancies Bill

Andy Allen left the meeting at 9.55 am.

The following representatives joined the meeting:

Ms Grainia Long
Ms Siobhan McCauley

The representatives from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive briefed the Committee and took part in a question and answer session with Members.

The Chairperson thanked the representatives for their attendance.

Agreed: The Committee requested that the representatives forward additional information related to the briefing, including figures showing the SAP band rating of their housing stock; information on their rolling programme of electrical safety checks; up to date information on their use of temporary accommodation; information they highlighted regarding long-term tenancies models and build-to-rent models; and information on the new requirements in the Republic of Ireland regarding rent reviews in the PRS

5. Briefing by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme Administrators on the Private Tenancies Bill

Aisling Reilly left the meeting at 10.20 am.

Mark Durkan left the meeting at 10.38 am.

The following representatives joined the meeting:

Mr Eamonn Hunt
Mr Daren King
Ms Kate Mutter- Bowen
Ms Alison MacDougall

The representatives from the Tenancy Deposit Scheme Administrators briefed the Committee and took part in a question and answer session with Members.

The Chairperson thanked the representatives for their attendance.

Agreed: The Committee requested that the representatives forward additional information related to the briefing, including up to date figures on the numbers of deposits retained/returned and the average deposit sums requested across the jurisdictions of the UK