Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2026
252. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to confirm the draw down of funding by Cork County Council under the tenant-in-situ scheme for 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5049/26]
View answerTenancy sustainment, or tenant-in-situ, is a priority category under my Department's Second Hand Acquisitions Programme. It is not a scheme, but a policy tool available to local authorities to prevent social housing supported households in the private rented sector from falling into homelessness. It should only be used as a last resort by local authorities when all other options have been exhausted.
In 2025, €15m was allocated to Cork County Council (CCC) with €9,953,036 recouped.
Funding for the Second Hand Acquisitions Programme will be agreed later this year, with individual allocations notified to local authorities as soon possible thereafter.
In the meantime, local authorities have been authorised to enter into commitments for 2026 to a value of up to 30% of their original 2025 acquisitions budget. This effectively provides for a multi-annual approach to programme delivery, facilitating local authorities to plan and progress acquisitions from one year to the next with a higher level of certainty vis-à-vis future funding availability.
For CCC, this provides scope to commit €4.5m to acquisitions that are likely to only complete and drawdown in 2026, including acquisitions to support exits from homelessness, tenancy sustainment via tenant in situ, and other priority cohorts such as older persons, persons with disabilities, care leavers, etc.
That said, I expect the 2026 programme to maintain support for tenant in situ acquisitions as a last resort policy tool available to local authorities to prevent social housing supported households in the private rental sector from becoming homeless.
