COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

QUESTION NO. 19

QUESTION: Councillor Liam Sinclair

That the chief executive outline council policy regarding buying houses where tenants facing eviction are currently residing, to prevent them becoming homeless.

REPLY: 

The Council has been notified of approval for 150 acquisitions in 2023 by Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and we examine all expressions of interest received in relation to potential purchases of properties with tenants-in-situ homes where a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) or Rental Assistance Scheme (RAS) tenant has received a valid Notice of Termination.

At the end of March 2023, 165 expressions of interest have been received for potential acquisitions with 16 properties purchased or at sale agreed stage, including four purchases completed in 2023. 51 further properties are at valuation/negotiation stage where the Council is seeking to purchase having completed all pre-purchase checks, and another 63 properties at various stages of due diligence & pre-purchase checks. Sales are not currently proceeding in relation to the expressions of interest received for a further 35 properties due to either the property being vacant/tenant no longer in-situ, the tenant having been made a reasonable offer of alternative accommodation or where the property is the subject to planning issues.

Where expressions of interest are received from property owners, various standard due diligence checks are undertaken in relation to property condition, valuation and conveyancing and the general steps in the process are as follows:
• Determine the housing need status of the household.
• Determine the validity and timelines of the Notice of Termination
• Explore options for suitable alternative accommodation where possible.
• Arrange a property condition survey and property valuation.
• Commence negotiation on acquisition price for the property.
• Where the sale price is agreed the Council’s Law Department commence and complete the conveyancing process.

Individual property purchases can be delayed for various reasons such as the owner not having full legal title, various planning issues, outstanding property taxes, general contractual conditions of sale not in place etc. and the process is also reliant timely progress from the vendor’s legal and sales agents, so timeframes vary from purchase to purchase. However, the Council has temporarily assigned additional resources to this work area from elsewhere within the Housing, Social and Community Development directorate and we are also procuring additional external technical resources to ensure that the existing potential acquisitions are progressed as promptly as possible. The level of activity and resource requirements for tenant in-situ purchases will continue to be reviewed in conjunction with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the coming months to ensure that we are able to prevent homelessness where possible.

The tenant in-situ acquisitions scheme does not specify criteria for eligibility relating to under or over occupancy, time on list, time in receipt of housing supports etc. and the Council is applying sufficient flexibility to the assessment process to prevent homelessness wherever possible. Inter-authority arrangements are also in place with neighbouring and other local authorities as required to progress potential acquisitions for South Dublin housing applicants in HAP supported tenancies at risk of homelessness in other local authorities’ administrative areas and vice versa.