COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 08, 2023

QUESTION NO. 15

QUESTION: Councillor Mark Lynch

To ask the Chief Executive what steps is the council taking to ensure implementation of the new 'cost rental backstop' whereby the council or an Approved Housing Body (AHB) will purchase the home of renters who are not in receipt of HAP or RAS but who are facing homelessness due to the sale of the property including what extra resources (e.g. manpower and budgetary) is the council devoting to ensure this?

REPLY:

The Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, has established the Cost Rental Tenant In-Situ (CRTiS) Scheme which will operate on a temporary administrative basis from 1st April 2023. Under this scheme, the Housing Agency may acquire a home with tenant(s) in-situ where a Notice of Termination has been issued due to the intended sale of the home, subject to certain conditions relating to the status of the tenant(s) and the property.

This Council is in the process of carrying out the initial assessment of tenants who present claiming to be at risk of homelessness because a landlord has issued a valid Notice of Termination due to an intended sale of the property.  This assessment is conducted in the same manner and using the same evidence base as any other situation in which a person presents to a the Council and claims to be at risk of homelessness.

Where the Council judges such tenant(s) to be at risk of homelessness, and the household is not in receipt of Housing Assistance Payment, the Council will pass details of the tenant(s) and property to the Housing Agency for consideration of the acquisition. The Housing Agency will have delegated sanction and discretion to make acquisitions, subject to the Acquisition Cost Guidelines issued by the Department to Local Authorities for acquisition of individual second-hand homes for social housing provision.

As this scheme is only recently launched, the level of activity and resource requirements for tenant in-situ purchases will be examined in conjunction with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the coming months based on demand for the scheme.