The LGMA will attend the Housing Practitioners' Conference 2026 on 23rd and 24th April to engage with housing practitioners, including local authority staff, approved housing bodies and Government officials.
Below are the roles and functions of the Housing Teams within the LGMA (1)HDCO, (2) Housing ICT Project Team and (3) Housing Committee for the County and City Management Association (CCMA)
1. Housing Delivery Co-ordination Office advises on best practice housing delivery channels and methods.
The LGMA Housing Delivery Coordination Office (HDCO) ensures housing delivery is coordinated and streamlined across the 31 local authorities, and up-to-date information is available to all stakeholders. The unit facilitates the L.A. sector in considering, recommending and adopting innovative, modern, & cost effective methods to meet the state's long-term housing needs.
To do this, we:
- Develop systems and processes for local authorities to ensure appropriate real-time data is available on social and affordable housing delivery programmes, i.e. a Single source of truth.
- Support local authorities with specialised skill sets in programme and contract management, project appraisal, procurement and technical advice.
- Provide advice on delivery channels, mechanisms and strategies to support the coordinated implementation of the programme for government
- Promote innovation and adoption of new methods of housing construction across the sector.
- Work to drive future pipeline, including advice on land acquisition, community and political engagement
- Coordinating the social and affordable housing delivery targets in conjunction with the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage (DHLGH) and ongoing oversight of delivery against targets on a national basis.
- Liaise and collaborate with stakeholders in DHLGH, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), The Housing Agency, The Land Development Agency (LDA) and The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) on matters of mutual interest in housing delivery.
The contact detail for the LGMA Housing Delivery Coordination Office Programme office is HDCO@lgma.ie
- Housing ICT
The LGMA Housing ICT Team support the local authorities in the efficient and effective delivery of their housing services, and encourage best practices, through the procurement and co-ordination of ICT Solutions.
Supports provided include:
- Provision of an off-the-shelf national Asset Management and Private Rental Inspections system
- Supply of the iHouse housing management system, which is in place in 27 of the 31 local authorities nationally
- Contract Management with third parties
- Co-ordination of system changes with the sector and the third-party suppliers
- Cross sectoral engagement and collaboration on behalf of the local authorities and optimise available innovations
- Co-ordination and support for the associated Programme Board, Project Boards and Working Groups
- Provision of ad-hoc ICT solutions as required by the sector
Housing Work Streams
Life Events - Accessing Social Housing
In early 2025, a user‑centred design process led by Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform involving the LGMA, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies, and the public helped shape a new Social Housing Support Application process.
Design Thinking was used to understand needs, test ideas with the public, and improve services
This effort was aligned with the Digital Public Services Plan 2030 Life Events approach and supports national targets for delivering key public services online.
Delivery is underway in partnership with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer using reusable digital building blocks.
Services will be rolled out in phases, with the Online Social Housing Support Application form slated for 2026
Central broker (CB)
Central broker (CB) is an enquiry tool which will check a centralised database using the PPSN to determine if an applicant has applied for housing in another local authority area.
An applicant can have only one single application within a single local authority.
This will help to eliminate active applicants in more than one LA.
As a result, this will cause an increase in efficiencies in dealing with housing applications for local authority staff.
At present the application is in pilot stage and testing is near completion. It is expected that the CB will be going live to LAs on a phased basis starting later in 2026.
iHouse
iHouse is a legacy Housing Management system currently used by 27 out of the 31 Local Authorities nationally.
LGMA holds responsibility for the iHouse contract, with ongoing system support and maintenance provided under contract. iHouse supports key social housing functions, including housing applications, tenancy management, allocations, rent reviews and repairs and maintenance. Oversight and ongoing development of the iHouse system is informed through a national iHouse User Group, coordinated by the LGMA and comprising Local Authority representatives. The group meets regularly to agree on enhancement priorities and inform future system releases.
Asset Management
The 31 Local Authorities (LA’s) in Ireland manage and maintain a social housing stock of circa 160,000 dwellings. In 2020 a business case lite was approved to progress the procurement and implementation of an ICT system to provide a technology-based solution to underpin and support the management and maintenance of the housing stock. This ICT system +AddJust is currently in the process of being implemented nationally to provide the ability to carry out a Stock Condition Survey and manage the housing asset and the planned maintenance programme.
The implementation of this system is a key requirement to support the Sector as it begins the transition from a response-based approach to a strategic and informed planned maintenance approach. It is envisaged that all housing stock will be surveyed over the next 5 years leading to an evidence-based planned maintenance outlook.
A phased approach has been applied to the roll out of each module of the +AddJust system which allows the LA’s to receive adequate training and support for each LA Team. The Stock Condition Survey Module has been rolled out and both the Reactive (Jobs) and Planned (Projects) Modules are currently being rolled out until May 2026. As of April 2026, there are in excess of 161,000 assets uploaded on the system and over 13,500 surveys carried out.
Private Rental Inspections
The Private Rental Inspections (PRI) is also a module of the +AddJust System that is proposed to be the master data management system for all the Private Rental Inspections carried out by the LA’s. The data will be received via API integration from a number of sources including HAP, RAS and RTB.
The system aims to automate, facilitate and where possible streamline the entire process around private rented inspections from assigning of inspections, carrying out of inspections, and managing the associated processes.
Please contact housingict@lgma.ie for any further queries.
3. The County and City Management Association (CCMA) is the ‘representative voice’ of the local government management network.
The LGMA provides support to and acts as point of contact for the CCMA. The CCMA is a non-statutory body and is a network of the chief executives of the county and city councils and the assistant chief executives of Dublin City Council.
The CCMA operates through a number of established committees:
- Corporate and Emergency Planning
- Economic Development
- Environment, Climate and Circular Economy
- Finance
- Housing
- Planning and Land Use
- Rural, Community, Culture and Heritage
- Transport, Infrastructure and Networks
Each Committee is made up of county and city council chief executives and directors of service / heads of finance.
The committee interfaces with senior management of government departments and other relevant stakeholders. The CCMA represents its members on external committees, steering groups and organisations.
Objectives of the CCMA
The strategic objectives of the CCMA are set by the CCMA Executive - an eight-member committee comprising of the CCMA Chair, Vice Chair, Chief Executive of Dublin City Council, Chief Executive of Cork County Council and four elected chief executive members. Their objectives are to:
- Engage with key stakeholders on a range of diverse subjects affecting operational matters in a local authority
- Demonstrate the system’s capability to ensure the provision of value for money
- Develop and present an accurate and positive view of the worth of local authorities in the public domain by building an understanding of the broad range of work that local authorities are involved in at a local level
- Demonstrate evidence of best practice and innovation within the sector for the purpose of supporting the wider development of such practices
- Support individual members of the CCMA
- Ensure that the public sector reform agenda is delivered and has a measurable positive impact
CCMA Housing Committee
The CCMA Housing Committee plays a central role in coordinating local authority input into national housing strategy and programme delivery. It supports policy development, addresses operational challenges, and fosters collaboration within the sector. The Committee generally meets once every month and the Committee provides a monthly report to the CCMA.
Key Areas of Focus
The Committee covers a broad range of housing-related issues and collaborative initiatives, including:
- Housing delivery (via Housing Delivery Coordination Office (HDCO)
- National Housing ICT Solutions
- Housing Policy
- Homelessness
- Traveller Accommodation
- Irish Prison Service and SORAM (Sex Offender Risk Assessment and Management)
- Building Information Management (BIM)
- Engagement with the Housing Agency
- Research and Data Gathering
- Strategic engagement with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
This Committee ensures that local authorities have a strong, unified voice in shaping and delivering housing services in line with national priorities.
Role of the LGMA:
- Support the CCMA Housing Committee in its policy making, project delivery/oversight and representational role on behalf of the CCMA and Local Government Sector.
- Coordinate the sectoral response to emerging government priorities and the delivery of national programmes.
- Continue to develop relationships with various stakeholders within government departments, state agencies and other stakeholders on behalf of the CCMA and local government sector to provide a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of government policy.
- Represent the local government sector on committees, working groups, etc. to support the development and implementation of government policy.
Contact the CCMA
CCMA Chairperson Paddy Mahon, Chief Executive, Longford County Council
County and City Management Association Local Government House 35 – 39 Ushers Quay Dublin 8