Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 May 2023
412. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage how many tenant-in-situ purchases Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council is targeted to make in 2023; how many purchases for tenant-in-situ the council has made to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26177/23]
View answer413. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will engage with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council about a tenant-in-situ purchase (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26178/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 412 and 413 together.
Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes and 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing in the period 2022-2026. Our clear focus is to increase the stock of social housing through new build projects delivered by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs).
For 2023, the Government has agreed that there will be increased provision for social housing acquisitions and my Department will fund local authorities to acquire at least 1,500 social homes. The additional acquisitions will be focused on properties where a tenant in receipt of social housing supports and has received a Notice of Termination due to the landlord’s intention to sell the property. My Department issued a circular letter to all local authorities in March, setting out details of these arrangements and each local authority was provided with a provisional allocation for social housing acquisitions in 2023. Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council was given a provisional target to acquire 50 social homes in 2023 and this will be kept under review.
Details of social housing acquisitions will be published as part of the comprehensive programme level statistics published by my Department on a quarterly basis. This data is available for all local authorities to the end of Quarter 4 2022 and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/ .
While data published to date does not include a breakdown of properties acquired where a tenant has received a Notice of Termination due to the landlord’s intention to sell the property, from Q1 2023 an amendment has been made to my Department's statistical returns to collect information in this regard. This data is currently being collated and will be published in due course.
With regard to the case referenced, as Minister, I am precluded by housing legislation from intervening in relation to the procedures followed, or decisions made, by local authorities in the provision of social housing support regarding any individual application. However, I am informed that the household in question have been provided with an offer of an allocation from local authority stock.
