James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Tenancy sustainment, or tenant-in-situ, is a priority category under my Department's Second Hand Acquisitions Programme. It is not a scheme, but a policy tool available to local authorities to prevent social housing supported households in the private rented sector from falling into homelessness. It should only be used as a last resort by local authorities when all other options have been exhausted.

Some €12 million has been allocated to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLR) under the Second Hand Acquisitions Programme this year. To date, and with just weeks left to year-end, only €8.5 million has been drawn down. The programme has supported 18 acquisitions by DLR so far this year as follows:

• 13 acquisitions for tenancy sustainment (tenant in situ)
• 2 acquisition for exits from homelessness
• 3 acquisitions for housing suitable for persons with a disability or the elderly, and
• no acquisitions for buy and renew to tackle vacancy.

I expect the 2026 Second Hand Acquisitions Programme to maintain support for the tenancy sustainment in 2026. Funding allocations will be agreed and notified to local authorities as early as possible next year, with allocations likely informed by the expected level of demand nationwide, the average cost per home in respective local authority areas and, most importantly, the overall budget available.

In the meantime, local authorities have been authorised to enter into commitments for 2026 to a value of up to 30% of their original 2025 acquisitions budget. This allows them commit, pending an agreed programme budget for next year, some €95 million extra in 2025 for acquisitions that will complete and draw down in 2026. This effectively provides for a multi-annual approach to programme delivery, facilitating local authorities to plan and progress acquisitions from one year to the next with a higher level of certainty vis-à-vis future funding availability.

For DLR, this provides scope to commit €3.6 million to acquisitions that are likely to only complete and drawdown in 2026, including acquisitions to support exits from homelessness, tenancy sustainment via tenant in situ, and other priority cohorts such as older persons, persons with disabilities, care leavers, etc.

An additional €2.5 million was also allocated to DLR in September to support acquisitions for households, particularly larger families with children, to exit emergency homeless accommodation into housing. While the DLR has not drawn down any monies from this allocation to date, any funding not drawn down this year will be carried into 2026 and will remain ringfenced from the council's broader 2026 Second-Hand Acquisitions allocation.