Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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895. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has any plans to increase the income thresholds to qualify for social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11640/25]

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
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982. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to increase the income limits to qualify for social housing as the current limits exclude a large cohort of individuals and families from both social housing and mortgage approval; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12822/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 895 and 982 together.

Housing for All includes a commitment to review income eligibility for social housing. From this review, completed in November 2021, it was recommended moving five local authorities from Band 3 to Band 2, ensuring the income eligibility thresholds better reflect housing costs in those counties. Government also agreed to increase the baseline income thresholds by €5,000 for all local authorities with effect from 1 January 2023. The thresholds thus increased to €40,000, €35,000 and €30,000 for bands 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

The review further recommended the commissioning of research to develop options for a revised or new social housing income eligibility model. My Department received this detailed research, commissioned by the Housing Agency. The scope of the research included examining the existing income limits in the context of current market and population conditions and the suitability or otherwise of the current framework having regard to the significantly changed landscape since the standardised income limits were introduced.

My Department is now undertaking a detailed examination of the report, in order to develop a new social housing income eligibility model in line with the Housing for All Action Plan update. This detailed examination will include consultation with stakeholders and will look at, inter alia, how the social housing income limits system interacts with other housing supports and ensure that they continue to target households correctly.

Cost Rental is a form of rental tenure designed to assist a cohort of renters who may face significant affordability challenges meeting high rents in the private sector, but who are not eligible for social housing support. The core principle of Cost Rental is that the rents cover the development, management, and maintenance costs of the homes, so that the long-term future of the homes is financially secure, but that rents are not subject to the pressures of the open market. Unlike market-driven rents, Cost Rental prices only increase in line with consumer inflation, providing stability while meeting ongoing expenses. Additionally, Cost Rental homes offer long-term, secure tenancies regulated by the Affordable Housing Act 2021.

My Department is currently working on revising the income eligibility for cost rental, in recognition of changing economic metrics since August 2023 and the commitment in the Programme for Government to keep eligibility under review. At the same time, the intention is that new eligibility conditions will also be provided specifically for those tenants who may apply to share a cost rental home (and the rent) under a multiple occupancy scenario, as per the amendments made to the Affordable Housing Act 2021 late last year.