Ms AnnMarie Farrelly:

On behalf of the local government sector, we welcome the opportunity to attend the committee's meeting to discuss tenant in situacquisitions. I am joined by my colleague, Mr. O’Reilly, from the housing, building and land use committee of the CCMA, who is also assistant city manager in the housing department of Dublin City Council, and by Ms Hayes, director of the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive.

Local authorities, as housing authorities, provide homes and supports to those with a housing need. We work in partnership with approved housing bodies, the charity sector and other stakeholders to assist tenants in difficulty. That happens on an ongoing basis and will continue in the coming months. Tenant in situacquisitions are part of the suite of local authority responses available to provide housing as well as addressing and stopping new entries to homelessness. Local authorities manage more than 140,000 social homes and added more than 7,600 additional homes to social housing stock last year. It is expected that the delivery of new homes will be greater in 2023. This will provide homes to a significant number of people with a housing need.

The housing assistance payment is another important support. On average, 166 HAP tenancies are created each week. Homeless HAP is an enhanced version of the scheme that offers additional support to those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. HAP place finders in local authorities assist in sourcing properties for households experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Initiatives such as targeting leasing and the amendment of the capital advance leasing facility used by AHBs to assist them in their efforts in delivering social homes are also welcomed by the CCMA.

I will not go through the policy context as illustrated by the circulars from February 2022 to March 2022 but nationally the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage supports acquisitions for social housing by local authorities under the social housing capital investment programme, SHIP, and by AHBs under CALF and the CAS. The table in my written submission sets out the pipeline of acquisitions for 2023 and the numbers completed to date. A total of 42 have been completed to date in 2023. The total completed combined with the pipeline envisaged to be completed by the end of the year comprises 525 properties. These figures include tenant in situacquisitions in 2023. Since Circular 16/2022 was issued in April 2022, the number of acquisitions across the sector for which sale has been agreed or completed with tenant in situ, totals 367 while a further 634 are in the pipeline and are being progressed through the process.

The acquisition of properties with tenants in situwas piloted by Dublin City Council in 2018 at the instigation of Mr. Brendan Kenny, former deputy chief executive of Dublin City Council. The objective was to offer an alternative to homelessness to tenants in the private rented sector who were supported by HAP, RAS or rent supplement and whose landlord intended to sell the property. The benefits of acquiring a house with tenant in situinclude: the permanent housing of applicants who are qualified for social housing support; homelessness prevention and the associated psychosocial benefits; and improved tenure diversity. The challenges include: the housing of qualified applicants ahead of other qualified households who have spent longer on the social housing waiting list and who may also currently be experiencing homelessness; competition with first-time buyers and others; and State expenditure on housing without any additional new-build housing being created.

Most local authorities will include consideration of the following as part of the decision to acquire or prioritise the acquisition of a property with a tenant in situ: whether there is a valid notice of termination; household need, including bedroom requirement, as applied to other social housing tenants, and whether the property meets any specific requirements of the household; estate management checks; compliant rent history; the length of time qualified for social housing; the length of time in the tenancy; condition survey of the property; costs of potential upgrade works; and compliance with planning, fire and building regulations.

A difficulty may present in the case of HAP where the local authority of application is not the local authority of residence. Local authorities, in the spirit of collaboration and remaining public-focused, are working on a regional basis to consider arrangements that can be put in place for these cases.

The property acquisition process can be broken into a number of steps. The first is that the tenant contacts the local authority to advise of the notice of termination. The local authority then inspects the property and the property is valued. The local authority then enters into negotiations with the owner. The next step is that the property goes sale agreed, which provides comfort for the tenant, before the sale is ultimately completed.

Local authorities are acutely aware of the impact of homelessness including the difficulty in exiting homelessness and the long-term impact of time spent in homelessness. The increase in notices of termination for reason of landlord sale has been noted for some time in homeless presentations. We are cognisant that the RTB recorded 2,845 notices of termination for reason of landlord sale in the third quarter of 2022 and that this presents an increased risk of homelessness for households in the coming months. The CCMA notes that only a proportion of these relate to social housing and HAP tenancies and local authorities cannot control the scale of the exits.

Local authorities, with the consistent support of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, are delivering additional emergency accommodation capacity, as well as encouraging exits from homelessness through social housing allocations and HAP tenancies. There are currently, on average, 166 HAP tenancies being created weekly and local authorities continue to actively promote these delivery options for both landlords and tenants.

The additional housing supply that has come on stream in 2022, which will continue into 2023 and beyond, will significantly help to provide homes to people with a housing need. Tenant in situ acquisitions are just one part of a suite of local authority responses available to tackle housing need.

The local government sector welcomes the additional support from Government to complete tenant in situacquisitions for households in receipt of HAP and RAS supports and will work together to ensure the 1,500 additional acquisitions are achieved this year. The sector is prioritising tenant in situacquisitions for households as necessary and required in order to support Government policy in addressing homelessness.