Tenant-in-situ scheme no longer ‘fit for purpose’ as Minister James Browne confirms focus is on ‘delivering new homes’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

The future of a scheme which allows local councils to purchase properties being sold by landlords, thus allowing tenants to continue to live there, appears in jeopardy after Minister James Browne said his department’s focus was on building new homes.

Created in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the tenant-in-situ (TIS) scheme gave renters facing eviction the opportunity to stay in their homes if the council bought the house directly from the landlord.

However, following confirmation that Wexford County Council (WCC) had only €2m to spend on the scheme in 2026 questions have now begun to be asked about its long-term viability. At the November meeting of WCC, Councillor Tom Forde asked whether those currently at risk of eviction had any hope of being included in the TIS scheme for next year.

“I’m aware the funds have been depleted, but are tenants who have received a notice to quit still going through the application process?” he asked. “Will the scheme be reviewed next year or are applications now closed? That’s what a number of people who are facing homelessness have been told when they contacted the council.”

Confirming the scheme was “still operational”, director of housing with WCC, Carolyne Godkin, said that ultimately the council’s job now was to “create more housing stock”.

But others believed it was time to rip up the scheme entirely.

“We’d nearly want to write tenant-in-situ off at this stage,” said Cllr Ger Carthy. “It seems like there’s a hundred reasons why you can’t buy a house or you can’t get into that scheme. We need to be honest about this. One time it was a great solution to house people, but it’s no longer a solution. It isn’t fit for purpose and it isn’t a solution. The solution is to build houses.”

While that appears to tally with the line coming from central government, according to Cllr Jackser Owens this is a problem which isn’t going away.

“In the case of no-fault evictions, do we have the funding to buy the house for these people?” he asked. “If we can’t buy the houses for these people they’re going to end up on the street.”

“If a person has received notice to quit and it’s a no-fault eviction, we bring them to undertake a housing assessment,” explained Ms Godkin. “I can assure you no-one will be left on the street. But we’re not buying every single house where notice to quit comes in.”

The conversation on the viability of TIS continued in the November meeting of the Rosslare Municipal District the following week. This time it was Cllr Aoife Rose O’Brien who set the ball rolling, asking for clarity on the 2026 budget for the TIS scheme.

Housing officer Sharon Ryan said she would return with the requested figures but confirmed WCC had “overspent” on TIS with “the agreement of the department of housing”.

Cathaoirleach of Rosslare Municipal District Cllr Ger Carthy. Pic: Jim Campbell

This led Cllr Carthy to surmise that the goalposts were now being moved in relation to the scheme.

“So, technically the figure we’re receiving for this isn’t correct because we’re paying for houses we purchased this year out of next year’s funding,” he said. “What is the overspend over the last number of years and how is it affecting the budget for 2025? We just want accurate figures.”

Instead, he and his colleagues received an updated title for a scheme which remained shrouded in mystery and confusion.

“It’s going to be known as the second-hand acquisition programme from next year and it’s going to be tied into homelessness, families, and those with disabilities,” said Ms Ryan.

“If a couple are in a house that’s getting sold they are then homeless,” replied Cllr Carthy.

“If someone gets a notice of termination we see them as at risk of homelessness and advise them to present to our housing department,” advised Ms Ryan. “If someone is homeless when they present the process is speeded up, but we have more time with people who are ‘at risk’ of homelessness but not yet homeless.”

“If they’re in a house and it’s going to be sold, will their case be put on the backburner?” asked Cllr Carthy.

That question was not answered during the RMD meeting but, two days later, having opened a new housing development in Tagoat, Minister for Housing James Browne provided an update on the status of the TIS scheme.

“Funding for TIS was brought in on a temporary basis when the eviction moratorium ended after Covid-19,” said the minister. “But in the long-term that's not sustainable, because you are buying up existing properties. Our focus is on delivering new houses, the state only has a certain amount of money and we want to use that to maximise the delivery of homes."

“In a case where someone is in a Housing Assistance Programme (HAP) property coming to an end of tenancy, we need the local authority to either provide another HAP property or a social house. We don’t want anyone in a situation where they can’t get a housing solution but we have 51,000 HAP tenancies and the state is not in a position to buy 51,000 second-hand houses.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Programme.

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