Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 December 2023
223. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if an assessment been done on the stated reasons by AHBs or local authorities for not going ahead with a tenant-in-situ purchase of a dwelling; and the steps that will be taken to address those problems to ensure more tenants at risk of homelessness can remain in their homes having been bought through the tenant-in-situ scheme. [54318/23]
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).
Social Housing is delivered through a range of local authority and Approved Housing Body (AHB) delivery programmes across the build acquisition and lease delivery streams.
For 2023, the Government has agreed that there will be increased provision for social housing acquisitions and my Department is funding local authorities to acquire at least 1,500 social homes. The additional acquisitions are 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 in March, setting out details of these arrangements and each local authority was provided with a provisional allocation for social housing acquisitions in 2023.
Local authorities have delegated sanction in relation to these acquisitions, subject to those acquisitions being within Acquisition Cost Guidelines issued by the Department. An independent valuation must also be obtained for each acquisition, in line with established practice for local authorities for social housing acquisitions.
Local authorities will work with all social housing supported tenants who receive a Notice of Termination and offer the available supports, which may include a tenant in situ acquisition or support to obtain an alternative tenancy, including a HAP-supported tenancy or an allocation to local authority stock. It is a matter for individual local authorities to identify suitable acquisitions in line with local circumstances and their social housing allocations policy.
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. From 2023, this data includes a breakdown of acquisitions completed by each local authority where a Notice of Termination issued to a tenant and is available, for all local authorities, to the end of Quarter 2 2023 on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.
The Cost Rental Tenant in Situ scheme is administered by the Housing Agency and, as of the end of Q2 2023, 68 cases had been referred to the Housing Agency by 21 local authorities. It is intended that data in relation to the Scheme will be published on a quarterly basis.
