LAST UPDATE | 6 Oct 2023

JUST TWO PROPERTIES have been acquired since April under a scheme designed to keep people facing evictions in their homes.

The cost rental tenant in situ scheme was introduced by the Government earlier this year after it lifted the temporary ban on evictions that had been in place. 

The scheme is operated by the Housing Agency, and is directed towards households who are renting a property and facing eviction, but who are not eligible for social housing supports like the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) or the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).

Under the scheme, tenants facing eviction are assessed first by their local authority as to whether they are at risk of homelessness and if they may be eligible for social housing (if they are, they cannot apply for this scheme).

An applicant tenant household must have net annual income of below €66,000 per annum for Dublin and €59,000 for everywhere else in the country. 

If they are deemed eligible, the local authority forwards the case to the Housing Agency, which then engages with the tenant and the landlord with a view to financing the purchase of the property by an Approved Housing Body. It will then be rented back to the tenant who can remain in the property.

However, new figures released to Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin under the Freedom of Information Act show that just two purchases have been finalised under the scheme since April.

In total, 152 referrals have been made to the Housing Agency from local authorities and other sources. A total of 130 of these have been assessed by the agency.

Of these, 112 have been put forward for acquisition. There are 38 properties in the pre-bid stage, and 10 where bids have been made but the offer has not been accepted yet. There are 45 properties where an offer has been accepted, and two where the property has been acquired.

Commenting on the figures, Ó Broin said that that Government had announced the scheme before the proper mechanisms were in place to ensure it ran smoothly, and that the entire process was “cumbersome”.

“And because of that it’s no surprise that the numbers are so low. Both in terms of interest, applications, offers and purchases,” he said.

“It’s another example of [the Government] just announcing something, saying you have support in place, scrambling around to try and get it done and it’s kind of falling flat on its face.”

Ó Broin said the Sinn Féin supported the scheme, but that it needed to be strengthened and “properly designed”. 

“The idea of the scheme is good but it needs to be properly designed, properly implemented and properly driven by Government,” he said.

I think the scheme needs to be strengthened, enhanced and properly funded and rolled out.

The Housing Department has been contacted for comment.