It's "beggars belief" that there was a 72 per cent decrease in the number of homes purchased in Dublin city last year under the tenant-in-situ scheme as the capital grapples with a homelessness crisis, Sinn Féin has said.
The scheme, which was set up in 2023, provides for councils to buy homes when a landlord is selling to allow the tenant to continue living there. Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has warned that further cuts to the scheme will force more people into homelessness.
He said it appears the Government is "intent on driving homelessness numbers" after new rent reform legislation was passed last week. Figures supplied to the party show that there was a 72 per cent decrease in the number of homes purchased through this scheme in Galway city last year compared to 2024, and an 86 per cent drop in Westmeath.
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In Dublin Fingal and Louth there was a 73 per cent decrease respectively, and in Westmeath 86 per cent fewer homes were purchased. Mr Ó Broin said: "The first major decision made by Minister for Housing James Browne on taking office was to slash funding for vital homeless prevention supports including the tenant-in-situ scheme.
"While the Minister denied that he was cutting the funding, figures provided to Sinn Féin by a number of local authorities show not only that funding was cut, but the rate of the cut ranges from 72 per cent to 96 per cent on 2024 levels in councils with some of the highest levels of homelessness.
"The direct result of these cuts is that fewer tenant-in-situ purchases took place in 2025. This is one of the reasons why homelessness, and in particular, family and child homelessness continued to rise last year."
The Sinn Féin housing spokesperson said 2026 allocations have not been made to councils yet but indications are that the scheme is set to wind down even further.
He continued: "At a time when eviction notices from landlords are rising, any reduction to funding for vital homeless prevention supports is utter madness. I am urging the Minister for Housing to restore the funding to 2024 levels and remove the restrictions imposed on the operation of the scheme last year."
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