The Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) was introduced in February 2009. Since then the programme has been expanded on a number of occasions to provide for new types of supply and to involve a greater range of agencies and bodies in providing accommodation. SHCEP supports the delivery of social housing by providing financial support to local authorities for the long term leasing of houses and apartments from private owners, developers and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). Properties made available under the programme are used to accommodate households from local authority waiting lists. Leased properties are allocated to tenants in accordance with the relevant local authority’s allocation scheme. My Department recoups the cost of the agreements that are made with private property owners, including AHBs, to the local authorities.
At end December 2017, the total number of operational units under SHCEP was 10,152.