Paul Murphy
Question:247. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps he will take to review the tenant-in-situ scheme, particularly in Fingal County Council (details supplied). [11259/24]
View answerThursday, 7 March 2024
Questions (247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252)
Paul Murphy
Question:248. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage what oversight the tenant-in-situ scheme has in place; in addition, if the tenant-in-situ scheme overseen by local authorities, under the "delegate sanction", includes an appeals process; and if he will provide a breakdown of which local authorities offer an appeals process. [11260/24]
View answerPaul Murphy
Question:249. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the "delegate sanction" to local authorities under the tenant-in-situ scheme permits local authorities to purchase properties requiring repairs. [11261/24]
View answerPaul Murphy
Question:250. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will inquire as to the reasons properties are not being acquired under the tenant-in-situ scheme due to repairs or similar reasons, while they were deemed appropriate for occupancy with council inspections and HAP payments. [11262/24]
View answerPaul Murphy
Question:251. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if an application by persons (details supplied) will be reconsidered. [11263/24]
View answerPaul Murphy
Question:252. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the consideration of mental health impacts on children and families in the tenant-in-situ scheme, including assessing the potential impacts of homelessness and emergency accommodation on mental health; the effects of uprooting children from their lives, schools and friends to enter precarious living conditions, when they consider "value for money"; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11264/24]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 247, 248, 249, 250, 251 and 252 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).
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 agreed that there would be increased provision for social housing acquisitions and my Department provided funding local authorities to acquire at least 1,500 social homes. The additional acquisitions have primarily focused on properties where a tenant is 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 in March 2023, setting out details of these arrangements and each local authority was provided with a provisional allocation for social housing acquisitions in 2023.
For 2024, Government has again agreed to an increased provision to acquire 1,500 social homes with the primary focus on properties where a tenant is in receipt of social housing supports and has received a Notice of Termination due to the landlord's intention to sell the property.
Local authorities have delegated sanction in relation to these acquisitions, subject to those acquisitions being within Acquisition Cost Guidelines (ACGs) issued by the Department. Local authorities regularly acquire properties that require repairs, however the cost of acquiring the property and relevant refurbishment costs must fall with in the ACGs. An independent valuation must also be obtained for each acquisition, in line with established practice for local authorities for social housing acquisitions. The current Acquisition Cost Guidelines were updated and issued to local authorities in April 2023. These guidelines are reviewed and updated as appropriate by my Department usually on an periodic basis.
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. The time required to complete a social housing acquisition can vary, depending on the circumstances involved. Individual property purchases can be delayed for various reasons such as the owner not having full legal title, various planning issues, outstanding property taxes, general contractual conditions of sale not in place etc. The process is also reliant on timely progress from the vendor's legal and sales agents, so timeframes vary from purchase to purchase. My Department does not hold data on the number of social housing acquisitions applications that have been withdrawn or rejected, nor does it hold data on the timelines for such acquisitions. This information, and the details for requesting a review on decisions made, may be available from individual local authorities.
Local authorities take appropriate steps to ensure that their first response will be to support households to try to prevent homelessness in cases where tenants have been served with a notice of termination by their landlord. It is important to acknowledge that the Tenant in Situ scheme has been a key measure in preventing homelessness and as such has mitigated such impacts for many households in 2023.
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 3 2023 on the statistics page of my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.
Question No. 248 answered with Question No. 247.
Question No. 249 answered with Question No. 247.
Question No. 250 answered with Question No. 247.
Question No. 251 answered with Question No. 247.
Question No. 252 answered with Question No. 247.