Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 February 2026
159. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will confirm if Wicklow County Council have been given a budget for tenant-in-situ applications and if it is available for new applications (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15392/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe parameters of the 2026 Second Hand Acquisitions Programme, including individual local authority allocations and the amounts targeting the programme's priorities, will be formally notified to individual local authorities in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, I can advise that €6m will be available to Wicklow County Council to draw down under the programme this year. Moreover, around €1.8 million can be committed in respect of acquisitions commenced this year but likely to only complete and draw down from the Department in 2027.
Local authorities have delegated sanction to pursue individual priority acquisitions without recourse to my Department, where these acquisitions are in line with the broad parameters and criteria of the Second Hand Acquisitions Programme. In such cases, the decision to progress an acquisition or otherwise, is solely a matter for the local authority in question.
Notably, such acquisitions are, and will continue to be available to local authorities for use as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted. They will never be the sole option, and the default first options should almost always be the retention of the tenancy where possible, an alternative private rented tenancy, or the tenancy of a local authority or Approved Housing Body social home. There is no application process for landlords and tenants for tenant in situ acquisitions. Tenant in situ is a last resort policy tool available to local authorities when no other options are available.
Ultimately, delivery of new additional social homes is the only strategic solution to address long-term homelessness, with allocations from new and existing local authority and AHB social homes the primary means through which social housing qualified households should be accommodated. With the social housing new build programme gathering momentum and providing more social housing, this will allow for a reduced reliance on the second hand acquisitions programme over the coming years.
