Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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630. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide an exact date for when the tenant-in-situ scheme will be reinstated and made fully accessible to applicants; what level of funding will be provided for each local authority, and the target number of homes to be provided per local authority under the scheme; how the delays have impacted people relying on this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17241/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased that the Government is providing continuing and substantial financial support to local authorities to acquire second-hand properties for priority categories of need including tenants-in-situ who have been in receipt of supports under HAP or RAS and who had received a Notice of Termination. The other priority categories for second-hand acquisitions are properties that allow persons/families to exit homelessness; one-bedroom properties to deliver on Housing First targets; and specific housing required for people with a disability or other particular priority needs.

This funding for second-hand acquisitions is part of almost €2 billion in total, which is supporting our local authorities and AHBs to deliver new social homes in 2025. Our main emphasis remains on constructing new homes and that unquestionably, is the correct approach. But our allocation of €325 million this year for second-hand acquisitions, following on from the funding provided in the last 2 years, is a clear response to shorter-term pressures that can arise and it gives the local authorities the flexibility to respond, while we continue to support their construction programmes.

I have asked our local authorities to use the full range of options for tenants-in-situ who have received a Notice of Termination and acquiring the landlord’s property is one option, but is not the sole option. In some cases, local authorities might use the thousands of new social allocations that they make each and every year, to provide a new tenancy for the families they are supporting. This is a valuable option given the record numbers of new social homes delivered over recent years. Local authorities might also use their Tenancy Sustainment officers to work with tenants and landlords on options to sustain tenancies.

There are no specific targets for the number of second-hand social housing acquisitions to be undertaken in 2025, rather I have made €325 million available to our local authorities for this activity and a breakdown of this funding by local authority area is as follows: