Councils criticised for spending too much refurbishing rental properties

Housing minister James Browne said the homes should 'not need huge amounts of money on refurbishment'. Picture: Gareth Chaney

Housing minister James Browne has criticised some local authorities for spending too much money on refurbishing properties bought under the tenant in situ scheme.

“In some local authorities, unfortunately, significant amounts of money have been used for refurbishment, €5m in the case of one local authority,” Mr Browne said.

“That was never the purpose of this scheme. These are houses that are already being rented out; they should not need huge amounts of money on refurbishment.”

The housing minister was responding to questions from Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin on the tenant in situ scheme, who questioned if the Government would reverse cuts and provide further funding to certain councils.

Mr Ó Broin cited correspondence from Cork City Council, which outlines that no funds are remaining to acquire more homes in 2025, due to funding allocated for this year being spent on spillover from 2024.

Eoin Ó Broin called for more funds to be provided to prevent at-risk renters from falling into homelessness. Picture: Stephen Collins

He added similar issues are occurring in Dublin City and Fingal, while calling for more funds to be provided to prevent at-risk renters from falling into homelessness.

“The consequence will be that in Cork City, Dublin City, and elsewhere, more people will become homeless and more people will spend more time in emergency accommodation,” Mr Ó Broin said.

In response, Mr Browne said there has been “significant” funds provided for the scheme in 2025, citing a €265m injection earlier this year, to a total funding package of €325m.

Mr Browne said just 20% of the funding allocated has been spent so far this year.

However, Mr Ó Broin described Mr Browne’s response as “utter rubbish”, saying the funds provided were a “substantial” cut on 2024.