Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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58. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of tenant in-situ applications approved in Cork city and county since the inception of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42876/24]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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What is the number of tenant in-situ applications approved in Cork city and county since the inception of the scheme?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Under Housing for All, we made provision for the purchase of 200 social housing acquisitions and to permit that each year. In 2023, with the Deputy's support, the Government agreed that we would increase the provision and the allocation of funds for 1,500 social housing acquisitions. This has continued into 2024 and my Department will fund local authorities to acquire at least 1,500 social homes this year. Last year, we did more than 1,800, as the Deputy knows, and revised the target. The additional acquisitions are focused on properties where a tenant in receipt of social housing supports has received a notice of termination due to the landlord’s intent to sell the property. Each local authority has been provided with a provisional allocation for social housing acquisitions this year, with additional headroom of 50% on the allocation being made available under delegated sanction. Acquisitions above that are subject to sanction, and my Department issued a circular to local authorities in March this year.

In 2023, Cork City Council acquired 109 homes, exceeding its target of 80. Progress continues into 2024. To date, Cork City Council has completed 105 acquisitions. Cork County Council also performed strongly last year. In 2023, 74 homes were acquired, exceeding its original target of 60. In 2024, as of the end of September, Cork County Council had already completed 81 acquisitions.

We are encouraging local authorities to continue with the purchase of homes with tenants in situ. It is an excellent preventative measure but it also ends insecure HAP tenancies in the main, which are very expensive for the State, purchases a home and asset for the State, and converts it to a safe and secure social home. Those are the most up-to-date figures I have.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The scheme is a very good one. I said that and welcomed it when it was initiated a few years ago. It is good to see that those targets are not ceilings, which the Minister has reiterated on the floor of the Dáil on numerous occasions. For a while, there was resistance in certain local authorities regarding targets. It is good to see that both Cork city and county have breached those targets, as indicated by the figures the Minister gave. They are obviously not taking them as limits. I ask the Minister to continue to encourage all local authorities throughout the country to treat those targets as minimum rather than maximum targets.

I will raise one issue. When we are doing our constituency clinics, we probably do not hear about the applications that sail through and are very straightforward. However, there are difficulties from time to time for people. I know of one case that has gone on for nearly 18 months. I have no doubt that is an outlier, but does the Minister have any information on the average turnaround time nationwide to deal with the tenant in-situ scheme?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The targets that were set were baseline targets. Like last year, I would like our local authorities to exceed those targets. It is difficult to get an average processing time because we are dependent on conveyancing, in particular, how that works out, and how smoothly it works. I find with most that once the property has gone sale agreed, it secures the tenancy in the main. We have come across issues. At the start of the scheme, we had transboundary issues, where a tenant might be on another local authority list. That has been resolved. The issue of under-occupation and over-occupation has also been dealt with. I have said to local authorities to acquire the properties. If they are too large for a household or family, they can be reallocated in future. From my perspective, the scheme has been very important as we continue to increase the delivery of social housing throughout the country. Social housing delivery in Cork city and county has been very impressive, as has affordable housing delivery. This is a very important weapon in our armoury for families to secure those homes as their permanent homes and to secure those tenancies.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have one or two supplementary questions. To address the point the Minister raised, a family might be in a three-bedroom home but due to their circumstances, on a transfer, might be looking to go to a two-bedroom, or whatever the case may be. To clarify, the Minister is saying to local authorities that if somebody only qualifies for a two-bedroom home but is in situ in a three-bedroom home, the local authority can allow them to remain and, as the Minister said, subsequently acquire an asset and reallocate it to another family in future. Will the Minister clarify that?

There has been talk about local authorities possibly paying higher rents to landlords in some tenant in-situ cases. Is there any information on that? If somebody were issued with an eviction notice because a landlord might be stuck on a lower rent or in a rent pressure zone, is there any ability for the local authority to renegotiate outside the limits of the terms of the rent pressure zone to allow people, if they are not willing to buy, to at least stay in the property to ensure they do not go into homelessness?

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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In support of the Deputy and the theme he is developing, is it possible to put together a bundle of opportunities that might be availed of by various families who are finding it difficult to get into the housing market? For instance, the first response in respect of the tenant in-situ scheme seems to be refusal. That creates a delay and does not solve the housing problem for the individual concerned. There is also Croí Cónaithe. All are good schemes, but only if they are applied and put into operation. I strongly support the previous speaker and the variations he suggested. The time has come to ensure that a bundle of options becomes available and not just one that is dismissed. There is a need for encouragement there.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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On the ability of a local authority to breach the rent pressure zone rules, the ability to renegotiate a rent that breaches the rules is not there. As the Deputy knows, we are looking at that and at what will replace RPZs, which have been extended to the end of 2025. It will be a big job for the next government to look at what protections will be brought in in the future.

It is important to again state that a local authority can purchase a home that is larger than the number of occupants, for example, a three-person family in a three-bedroom home, on the basis that they may be reallocated in future. I have had it the other way around, where there is a large family and the home is over-occupied. The options may be very slim for them or restrictive as to where they would go. Local authorities have the ability to do that. In some instances, a local authority could say to the tenant that it is purchasing the home, that he or she will not be there forever, and that it will wait until that tenant is reallocated.

On the options Deputy Durkan spoke of, I have been clear with local authorities to look at all options when a notice of termination comes forward, especially in relation to allocation of new social homes. Sometimes, someone can be quite high up the list but might be just outside the offer zone. He or she can get an offer now. That can be accelerated and can be done. I have seen that happening as well. We need to keep an eye on this scheme and continue to manage it.