I welcome the Minister of State. I wish to raise an issue of growing concern in County Kerry regarding the operation of the tenant in situ scheme. The purpose of the scheme is very straightforward and commendable, but straightforward it is not. It allows local authorities or approved housing bodies to purchase properties where tenants are at risk of homelessness. It ensures continuity of tenancy for households in receipt of the housing assistance payment, HAP, or rental assistance scheme, RAS, and it prevents the loss of existing rental homes from the private market.

In principle the scheme is working okay in some parts of the country. However, in Kerry we are seeing a very low uptake. I believe the last house was purchased in 2024. The reason is both simple and avoidable. Under the current framework, there is no provision for renovation or upgrade costs when a local authority purchases a property that does not meet the standards for rented housing regulations 2019. Indeed, 90% of first inspections fail. Many of the homes coming forward for potential purchase in Kerry are older properties that require works, sometimes modest and sometimes substantial, to bring them up to regularity with the standards.

In Kerry, the average cost for Kerry County Council to renovate a property to comply with the regulations post-purchase is between €30,000 and €40,000. Local authorities are understandably reluctant to proceed with purchases when no funding stream exists to cover the necessary remedial works. As a result, properties that could otherwise be secured for vulnerable tenants are being passed over. Tenants who should be protected under the scheme are instead facing eviction and, in many cases, homelessness. The intention of the tenant in situ scheme was to provide a safety net, but in counties such as Kerry, which I represent, the absence of renovation funding has created a structural barrier that undermines the scheme's purpose.

I call for clarity on whether the Department intends to introduce a dedicated renovation or upgrade provision in the tenant in situ scheme. Will the Minister of State confirm whether local authorities may access any existing capital or remedial works funding streams to support these purchases and ensure that counties with older housing stock, such as Kerry, are not disadvantaged by a one-size-fits-all approach? If this gap is not addressed, the scheme will continue to underperform in Kerry and families who should be protected will continue to fall through the cracks and face homelessness.

I also welcome the school pupils. Is the school in west Cork? It is in Westmeath. I am from west Cork so it is the centre of everything, but Westmeath is a lovely county as well. I welcome the pupils to the Seanad.

I thank Senator Kennelly for raising this issue. Before I read the statement, I hear that one of the reasons the Senator thinks the tenant in situ scheme is not being used regularly in Kerry is that the cost of renovation is not included and the local authority, when it is pricing or valuing a house, has to work the cost of renovation into the valuation. Therefore, even if the sellers of the properties agree to sell them with the tenants in situ, they feel they are not getting the prices they should because the council is factoring in those costs. I think that is what is happening, but perhaps the Senator will clarify. If so, I agree that we should perhaps look at it.

The Minister for housing will shortly approve the parameters and funding details of this year’s programme and local authorities will be notified of their respective 2026 allocations shortly thereafter. Last year, some €375 million was allocated to local authorities for acquisitions. Of this, only €290 million was drawn down, including €52 million for refurbishment costs. This funding was given to local authorities for an estimated 775 acquisitions, including almost 490 tenant in situ acquisitions.

The 2026 programme will fund eligible acquisitions under three priority streams, namely, exits from homeless services; priority acquisitions for older persons, care leavers and people with disabilities; and tenant in situ acquisitions. It will continue to be a policy tool for local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs, to prevent social housing supported households in the private rental sector falling into homelessness, and support the exit of households from long-term homeless accommodation. Significant funding will again be available to help to alleviate short-term pressures, affording local authorities the flexibility needed to respond while they scale up their construction programmes.

I note there is no tenant in situ scheme as such, rather, tenant in situ acquisitions are a last resort policy tool available to local authorities through the second-hand acquisitions programme. This has always been the case. Undoubtedly, tenant in situ acquisition is an important tool, but it is absolutely not the only, or even the primary, tool available. It should only be used when all other options to prevent a household becoming homeless have been exhausted. It should never be used as a default first-response option. It remains the case that, as a first step, the relevant local authority tenancy sustainment officer should engage with the relevant landlord on whether the threatened tenancy can be maintained within the current or an alternative social housing scheme. If this is not possible, the local authority must help the tenant to secure alternative private rental accommodation. Where an existing or alternative tenancy cannot be secured, the local authority must examine if a tenancy in a local authority or an AHB social home can be facilitated. Where these options have proved unfeasible, the local authority may proceed to support a tenant in situ acquisition.

While the parameters of the new second-hand acquisitions programme are yet to be agreed, with almost 17,000 people currently residing in homeless accommodation, the programme will focus this year on exiting households from long-term homeless accommodation. Some €150 million will be ring-fenced for this purpose. More than adequate funding will be available in 2026 to support any acquisitions that can be progressed by local authorities or AHBs. The multi-annual approach introduced in 2025 will also continue, with local authorities authorised to enter into commitments for 2027 up to a value of 30% of their baseline 2026 acquisitions budget. This will allow local authorities to plan and progress acquisitions between annual programmes with certainty vis-à-vis future funding availability. Notably, at the end of January this year, less than half the €95 million available to be committed in 2025 for acquisitions in 2026 was actually committed by local authorities.

I will continue in my second response.

The scheme was introduced for people facing homelessness so tenants could be put in a place where properties could be purchased without leaving the properties and facing homelessness. Properties cannot be got when a notice to quit has been served on a family. They cannot be sourced. There is nothing to rent or lease. There is nothing to be got. People are falling through the cracks because they cannot get any other local property. When the crack that nothing is available is identified, why can the council not buy the properties, even if a cost analysis of it has been done? The scheme is not doing what it is supposed to and that is why I am raising it.

The Minister of State said that last year, some €375 million was allocated to local authorities for acquisitions and, of that, only €290 million was drawn down. That sounds alarm bells. Kerry County Council drew down money last year for the tenant in situ scheme, but it was to deliver houses it bought in 2024. I have the breakdown. I want a review of it and for someone to come back me about what to tell the people of Kerry where notices to quit are regularly coming for families. They have to leave the properties within a three-, five- or six-month period and there is nothing to rent. Will the Department look at this again because it is not working in my county? The purchase of 23 properties under the tenant in situ scheme in recent years is a poor return for people facing homelessness, and we have figures to prove it.

One of the challenges we need to address is that if a house is valued at €350,000, for example, and needs refurbishment and repair, what seems to be happening - and this is what we could look at - is the council may only come up with a figure of €300,000 because it is keeping €50,000 in reserve for the refurbishment. That has proven to be a challenge. If we could somehow get around that, more property owners might come on board the tenant in situ acquisitions. It is certainly an issue I have come across.

The Senator pointed out there is a lack of rental accommodation. We need to sort that out. With the new tenancies Bill, there will be security of tenure so the notices to quit should not be as common after 1 March. There is also the short-term letting legislation, which is controversial. I am from west Cork and the Senator is from Kerry. We know how important tourism accommodation is, but if it could free up a few hundred houses for rent, it might take a bit of pressure off.

I appreciate the Senator raising this matter. I will go back to the senior Minister to get clarification on it.