Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
636. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason that local authorities cannot carry over their unspent tenant-in-situ allocation from year-to-year if necessary. [5881/26]
View answer637. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the local authority price ceilings for the purchase of second hand properties. [5882/26]
View answer638. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will reconsider his Department’s guidance that second hand properties should be in good condition, with no more that €10,000 spent on minor works. [5883/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 636, 637 and 638 together.
Tenancy sustainment, or tenant-in-situ, is a priority category under my Department's Second Hand Acquisitions Programme. It is not a stand-alone scheme, and no tenant-in-situ specific allocations are provided to local authorities.
My Department provided some €375 million to local authorities under the 2025 programme to support, in line with locally identified needs:
• Tenancy Sustainment - Tenant in Situ (TiS);
• Exits from homeless services;
• People with a disability and older persons requiring urgent housing responses; and
• Buy and Renew acquisitions, which tackle vacancy.
An estimated €291 million was reimbursed to local authorities in 2025 and finalised data on the number of properties funded and amount reimbursed will be available later in Q1 2026 when the Q4 2025 social housing delivery data are collated.
Local authorities were authorised in summer last year to enter into commitments for 2026 up to a value of 30% of their original 2025 acquisitions budget. This flexibility effectively provides for a multi-annual approach to programme delivery, facilitating local authorities to plan and progress acquisitions between annual programmes, and from one year to the next, with a higher level of certainty vis-à-vis future funding availability.
My Department has placed no specific monetary limit on the level of eligible refurbishment costs that can be recouped by local authorities under the Second Hand Acquisitions Programme. Generally, the refurbishment of properties acquired to support exits from homelessness or for older persons and persons with disabilities are supported where such works are needed to comply with Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 or where adaptation works are necessary to accommodate the specific needs of the household being accommodated.
Refurbishment costs are not reimbursed for tenant in situ acquisitions. Extensive repairs or refurbishments should not be required on these properties as they already benefit from significant Exchequer funded rent supports every week, are legally required to meet the provisions of the private rental regulations, and are inspected by local authorities to ensure they meet such standards.
Ultimately, local authorities must make adequate budgetary provision for housing repairs and cyclical maintenance utilising the significant housing rental income available to them as part of the annual budgetary process. That said, funding is available as a contribution towards these works through a number of stock improvement programmes managed by my department, including the national regeneration programme, Energy Retrofitting, the Planned Maintenance and Voids programme, the Disabled Persons Grant and Regeneration. Some €260 million will be provided under these programmes in 2026.
Local authorities have delegated sanction to acquire properties where such acquisitions are in line Acquisition Cost Guidelines issued by my Department. These guidelines reference lower and upper cost ranges, along with an average or benchmark cost, which is representative of the average range of current prices across respective local authority areas. The current guidelines were updated and issued to local authorities in April 2024. They will be reviewed and updated, as appropriate, in due course.
