Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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84. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government whether the two-year tenancy requirement in the tenant-in-situ acquisition scheme is currently under review; if he will commit to amending or removing this requirement to improve access to the scheme for households at risk of homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2558/26]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Tenancy sustainment, or tenant-in-situ, is a priority category under my Department's Second Hand Acquisitions Programme. It is not, and was never, an independent scheme outside of the Second Hand Acquisitions Programme. Rather it is policy tool available to local authorities to prevent social housing supported households in the private rented sector from falling into homelessness, and it should only be used as a last resort by local authorities when all other options have been exhausted.

The 'two year eligibility criterion' applying to tenant in situ acquisitions applies to the property rather than an individual tenancy. Accordingly, regardless of the duration of an individual tenancy, an acquisition may be eligible if the relevant property has been rented to social housing supported tenants for a continuous period of at least two years. I have no immediate plans to change this requirement for the 2026 Second Hand Acquisitions Programme.

My Department continues to engage with local authorities on any challenges which have emerged to ensure tenant in situ acquisitions remain an option in 2026 where other solutions cannot be found.