Dáil debates
Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Housing Schemes
11:55 pm
Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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We have just had an intense and emotional debate on a Sinn Féin Private Members' motion that called for an extension of the eviction ban to protect tenants and ensure they will have somewhere to live during this housing and rental crisis. There is no doubt there is great fear among renters at the moment. Many feel vulnerable and deeply distressed that when the ban is lifted at the end of the month, they may face the prospect of being made homeless. Despite the Government's claims, sufficient social and affordable housing is not being built. There is also no proper targeting of the huge number of vacant properties with a view to making them habitable and going some way towards relieving the stresses of the demand for housing. The Government needs to look at every available option to ensure it will maximise the number of properties available for those looking to be housed.
Part of this process is an urgent requirement for the Government to encourage local authorities to boost the tenant in situ scheme, which encourages local authorities to buy properties that have been put up for sale by the landlord where an existing tenant is in receipt of State support such as the housing assistance payment, HAP, or the rent supplement or is on the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. These schemes are important in helping prevent State-supported tenants from being evicted into homelessness. A recent report in The Irish Timesshowed there has been a shockingly low uptake of the tenant in situscheme and that only a fraction of the target of 1,500 properties have been purchased. It is scandalous that, in this housing crisis, local authorities are not using a mechanism that can keep tenants in place, prevent vulnerable tenants from being evicted and eliminate the stress and fear for a family facing the prospect of being made homeless. In the past year, local authorities have bought fewer than 370 properties in tenant in situarrangements. Fingal County Council, it should be noted, has bought none. The report in The Irish Timesshowed that even though more than 400 properties had been offered to the local authorities in Dublin, no more than 13 homes were purchased under the scheme between the four councils. Figures from other local authorities show a similarly low trend of uptake of such purchases. I understand that local authorities face certain challenges with the scheme. The goal of the scheme, however, is to prevent families from entering into homelessness, and this far outweighs any challenges the local authorities face when implementing it.
Part of that challenge relates to where a tenant is renting in local authority but is on the housing list of a neighbouring authority. In the current distressed housing and rental markets, it should be obvious that a tenant who is receiving HAP from the neighbouring authority should be allowed to remain in situif the local authority in the area where he or she is renting purchases the property. It makes perfect sense for this to happen. Local authorities need to be imaginative and flexible in their approach to such matters. By thinking outside the box, they can help make a dent in the housing and rental crisis. The Minister of State needs to keep the pressure on local authorities and be more proactive in implementing the tenant in situscheme.
Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. I agree the debate we had was intense. As he noted, this is about keeping people in their homes.
Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 units per year up to 2030, comprising the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. The strategy is supported by an investment package of more than €4 billion per annum through an overall combination of €12 billion in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5 billion in funding through the Land Development Agency and €5 billion through the Housing Finance Agency.
Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new-build social homes and 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing in the period 2022 to 2026. Our clear focus is to increase the stock of social housing through new-build projects delivered by local authorities and approved housing bodies. Under the strategy, there is provision for 200 social housing acquisitions each year, outside of the tenant in situscheme. However, with increased pressures on housing and the exit of landlords from the market, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage reinstated delegated sanction to local authorities in April 2022 to acquire social housing properties for a number of specific categories, including properties that allow persons to exit or prevent homelessness.
For 2023, the Government has agreed there will be increased provision for social housing acquisitions and the Department will fund local authorities to acquire up to 1,500 social homes. This represents an increase of 1,300 on the original target for acquisitions. Local authorities have delegated sanction to deliver the 1,300 additional acquisitions, subject to those acquisitions being within the acquisition cost guidelines issued by the Department.
One of the priority categories was to address homelessness, which includes the acquisition of a property to exit a household from emergency accommodation or the acquisition of a property that would prevent a household from becoming homeless. The Minister specifically requested that local authorities be proactive in acquiring properties where a HAP or RAS tenant had received a notice of termination due to the landlord’s intention to sell the property. A circular also issued to local authorities last week, setting out these revised arrangements.
Turning to the specific point the Deputy raised, the practical operation of transfer lists is a matter for each local authority to manage on the basis of its own scheme for letting priorities. The making of such schemes is a reserved function of the local authority and, as such, is a matter for the elected members in each county and city council. In instances of inter-authority social housing acquisitions, local authorities collaborate with each other on a case-by-case basis.
11 o’clock
The City and County Management Association, CCMA, has advised that local authorities will collaborate on situations where a local authority tenant is in a HAP tenancy in another local authority area. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will work closely with the CCMA on these measures.
If the Deputy encounters particular instances, I suggest that he initially make contact with the respective local authorities and then bring them to the attention of the Department. The ultimate objective here is to keep people in their homes. For many of the people in question, the property they are living in under HAP has been their home for many years. This is a matter of which I am conscious every day.
12:05 am
Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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There is an issue in respect of the crossover between local authorities. It has not been resolved between Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council in spite of a significant amount of co-operation. Plans are in place, however, and the councils are considering the matter. One such plan may be to compile a list of all landlords seeking to sell in Fingal, for Dublin City Council to do the same and a swap to be made, so that properties go into Dublin City Council, for example. It is possible that is being considered.
Another matter of concern is that different local authorities have different rules, as the Minister of State noted. There is a need to be more specific in this regard. In Dublin City Council, a family with two boys or two girls living in a three-bedroom house would normally only be entitled to a two-bedroom house. There is a need for flexibility. To say the family cannot purchase that house because it has three bedrooms and they only have an entitlement to two bedrooms is not acceptable. That should be conveyed to local authorities across the board.
There is a need for flexibility on this issue. It is arising between Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council. I have been contacted by people in Fingal, near where I am based, who want to buy but they are tenants of Dublin City Council in the Fingal area and vice versa. That is the point of this. The tenant in situ scheme is working. It is a little slow but it is starting to ramp up and that is very positive. I have dealt with several such cases. It is a massive incentive for families to avail of the scheme. The dividends for those families are significant. I wish to concentrate on the specific issue of the crossover and ensure it is given consideration by the Minister of State, his Department and the various local authorities.
Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy, who has made practical points that I take wholeheartedly. If people in a property have young children who are in a local school, the property in question is their home. That is the logic of it. The Deputy referred to Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council. A body of work is under way there. Obviously, the Deputy will allow the councils to do that work and see how it develops. The tenantin situscheme was brought in for that specific purpose - to cater for people who are on HAP or RAS. As the Deputy is aware, in areas where local authorities are very close to one another, such as in Dublin, people could end up renting just inside the boundary of another local authority. I hope the two local authorities in question will come to an understanding. I ask the Deputy to provide feedback on that. We are interacting with all the local authorities.
Housing for All is a clear priority for the Government and we are committed to delivering on targets across all pathways of the plan. The provision of individual local authority targets and the development of housing delivery action plans to address delivery through the next five years has introduced a more strategic approach to housing delivery. Local authorities are working closely with approved housing body, AHB, delivery partners and the Land Development Agency to develop a pipeline to ensure we meet these targets. The increase of up to 1,500 social housing acquisitions will allow local authorities to focus on properties where a tenant in receipt of social housing supports, namely, HAP or RAS, has received a notice of termination.Local authorities will have to adopt a common sense approach with regard to where people are living and the configuration of the household, taking into account factors such as where the children are in school. Local authorities have delegated sanction to deliver the 1,300 additional acquisitions, subject to the acquisition cost guidelines, and will collaborate with each other as inter-authority acquisitions cases arise. The Department has worked closely with the CCMA to prioritise this initiative with a focus on the prevention of homelessness and will continue to work closely with local authorities, the CCMA, and all key stakeholders to ensure the success of this programme.
If issues arise, I ask the Deputy to come to us with them. We are here to assist.