Households in limbo without government funding for tenant in situ scheme

There are a number of tenant in situ applications paused in Cork city, with the local authority confirming it has paused conveyancing on 29 properties that have gone sale agreed. File picture Denis Minihane.

Hundreds of households are being left in limbo over uncertainty with the tenant in situ scheme, as Department of Housing is yet to formally provide funding to local councils.

It comes as Taoiseach Micheál Martin signalled that there could be a tightening up of the scheme with discussions on making it more targeted.

Multiple county and city councils have said there are a number of purchases being held up as they await a formal Cabinet decision to extend the scheme.

This includes 107 properties waiting to be bought by Limerick City and County Council. The local authority says they are “on hold”.

One source in the Department of Housing said the extension of the scheme was being held up by the Department of Public Expenditure.

However, the Taoiseach told the Dáil in February the scheme was not suspended.

Ongoing engagement with tenant in situ scheme

He said there is ongoing engagement on the scheme between housing minister James Browne and public expenditure minister Jack Chambers and that the allocation of funds for the scheme in 2025 is “not large enough”.

“So the discussions are around how we can target this scheme for the most needy and particular areas where it makes absolute sense for people who otherwise would be homeless if we did not have the availability of a tenant in situ scheme,” Mr Martin said.

The scheme itself allows local authorities to buy up properties in situations where tenants are facing eviction, but only if those tenants are in receipt of other housing supports like Hap or RAS.

There are a number of tenant in situ applications paused in Cork city, with the local authority confirming it has paused conveyancing on 29 properties that have gone sale agreed.

A spokesperson for the council said this is to await the funding and target allocation from the Department of Housing.

Other councils that have a significant number of properties paused include South Dublin County Council, with local Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward saying there are 71 tenant in situ applications paused.

In Waterford, the council confirmed there are 17 applications to buy a property paused, while 21 are paused in the Fingal County Council area.

Many councils not accepting new applications

A number of other councils are not accepting new applications for the tenant in situ scheme before funding is provided by the Government, including Kildare County Council and Wicklow County Council.

Dublin City Council refused to say how many applications it has paused, despite numerous attempts to contact the local authority.

The pause in processing by councils has lead to concerns that landlords could pull out of the scheme and instead sell their property on the private market. This could put tenants at risk of homelessness, opposition TDs have flagged.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said the programme for government commits to extending the tenant in situ scheme into 2025.

“The Department has been updating local authorities on the current position regarding the 2025 acquisitions programme in individual engagements and also in plenary discussions with the CCMA [County and City Management Association] Housing Committee and Executive,” the spokesperson said.

They added that the Cabinet would make a decision on the scheme “shortly”.