Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2024
423. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a report on the cost-rental tenant-in-situ and the tenant-in-situ programmes, broken down by local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36958/24]
View answerBoth the Tenant in-Situ and Cost Rental Tenant in-Situ schemes support households who are at risk of homelessness.
For 2023 and 2024, the Government agreed that there would be increased provision for social housing acquisitions and my Department provided funding for Local Authorities to acquire 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.
It is a matter for individual local authorities to identify suitable acquisitions in line with local circumstances and their social housing allocations policy. 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.
The Cost Rental Tenant In-Situ (CRTiS) scheme was introduced on 1 April 2023 for tenants in private rental homes who are not in receipt of social housing supports but are at risk of homelessness because a landlord has served a valid Notice of Termination due to an intention to sell the property.
The Local Authority conducts the initial assessment for eligibility of the tenant for this scheme and refers potential cases to the Housing Agency, which is responsible for administering and managing the scheme on behalf of my Department, pending further policy development over the longer term, with the intention of transitioning these homes to the standard Cost Rental model over time and to move it to being an Approved Housing Body led scheme. I am informed that the Housing Agency have engaged with more than 190 landlords across all Local Authority areas, with a view to the purchase of those homes.
Comprehensive data on social and affordable housing is published on my Department's website up to Quarter 1 2024, including completed acquisitions: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/ .
