Written answers

Tuesday, 9 November 2021

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Schemes

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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320. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the total expenditure to date on homeless HAP. [54018/21]

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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321. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin at the end of each quarter from Q1 2016 to Q1 2021, in tabular form. [54019/21]

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 320 and 321 together.

The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support for people who have a long-term housing need. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP and those households must source their own accommodation in the private rental sector.

Under HAP, households at risk of homelessness may be eligible for additional supports. To qualify for specific additional supports available to homeless households, a household must have been determined by the relevant local authority to be homeless within the meaning of section 2 of the Housing Act 1988. The operation of local homeless services, including the Place Finder Service, is a matter for each local authority.

Expenditure on the initial set-up costs of homeless HAP tenancies to end Q2 2021 of €74.9m is detailed by year in the table below. This comprises of rent in advance, deposits and associated costs:

Year 2021

(to end Q2)
2020 2019 2018 2017
Spend (€m) 12.5 20.3 18.6 12.0 11.5

Once a homeless HAP tenancy is setup, the ongoing cost of the tenancy is provided for under the general HAP scheme monthly landlord payments. The costs of homeless HAP tenancies are not differentiated.

Total expenditure by my Department on the HAP scheme for the period 2017 – Q2 2021 is detailed in the table below.

Year Outturn €M
2017 152.7
2018 276.6
2019 382.4
2020 464.7
2021 (to end Q2 2021) 260.5

The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) operates Homeless HAP on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities. The total number of homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin, at the end of each quarter from Q1 2016 to Q1 2021, is detailed in the table below:

Year Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2016 38 244 493 869
2017 1398 1760 2182 2643
2018 3160 3624 4367 4930
2019 5600 6255 6860 7513
2020 8037 8751 9547 10140
2021 10994 11,715

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