Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2023
434. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to set out in tabular form the progress to date with both the social and cost-rental tenant-in-situ schemes, including number of applications for each scheme, number of rejections, number gone sale agreed and number purchased, with a breakdown by local authority for both schemes. [39829/23]
View answerUnder 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 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 target for social housing acquisitions in 2023 and these allocations are being kept under review.
It is matter for each local authority to decide on appropriate acquisitions having regard to the arrangements for the scheme. My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social and affordable housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in each local authority, including completed acquisitions. This data is available to the end of 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. Data for Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 2023 is currently being collated and will be published shortly. My Department does not collect information on the numbers of acquisitions that do not proceed.
The Government has developed the ‘Cost Rental Tenant In-Situ’ scheme for tenants in private rental homes who are at risk of homelessness because a landlord intends to sell the property, but who are not in receipt of social housing supports. The scheme was established on a temporary administrative basis from 1 April 2023, pending further policy development over the longer term with the intention of transitioning these tenants and homes to the standard Cost Rental model.
The household income limit for scheme eligibility increased to €66,000 net for Dublin and €59,000 net elsewhere. This limit is in line with the recent changes to cost rental eligibility limits from 1 August 2023.
Local Authority Housing Officers have responsibility for assessing the risk of homelessness to tenants who have received a valid notification of termination due to an intended sale of a property, and so it is the local authority that tenants should first approach.
If the local authority is satisfied that the applicant tenant household is eligible for CRTiS they will pass the details of the tenant and the property to the Housing Agency for consideration for potential acquisition. The Housing Agency will then engage with the tenant and the landlord with a view to acquiring the property. The Housing Agency will partner with an independent third party, potentially an Affordable Housing Body (AHB), to manage and maintain the homes.
It is the longer-term intention of the scheme, however, to transition these tenancies and homes to the standard framework for Cost Rental, where rents are set at a level to meet the costs of acquiring, managing, and maintaining the home. It is for this reason that the CRTiS eligibility criteria align with those in the standard Cost Rental framework.
Data on the number of Cost Rental acquisitions being progressed will be published in conjunction with the Social Housing Quarterly Statistics shortly.
