1747. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount of funding provided for Wicklow County Council for the tenant-in-situ purchase scheme for 2026; the estimated number of homes which will be purchased in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59828/26]

The clear focus of the Government under Delivering Homes, Building Communities is to increase the supply of new build social and affordable homes. There is, however, a recognition of the need to respond to acute situations where households in receipt of social housing support are at risk of becoming homeless, or where there is an urgent need to acquire a property to respond to a particular need.

Funding for such circumstances is available via my Department’s Social Housing Second Hand Acquisitions Programme. Tenancy sustainment, or tenant-in-situ, is not a stand-alone programme or scheme. It is an eligible category of acquisition introduced as part of the Acquisitions Programme in 2023. However, given persistently high levels of homelessness, I have made available €373 million under the Social Housing Second-Hand Acquisitions programme, prioritising acquisitions that alleviate and prevent homelessness.

The Second-hand Acquisition Programme 2026 includes the following three eligible categories:

• Exits from homeless services

• Tenancy Sustainment - Tenant in Situ (TiS)

• Housing Suitable for persons with a disability or the elderly

Targets are not set by the Department, but rather funding allocations are made at the beginning of the year.

In respect of Wicklow County Council, €6 million has been provided for acquisitions in 2026. Some €4.75m is ringfenced to target Local Authority Priority Acquisitions, including tenant in situ acquisitions that will support households in the most precarious housing situations and where no other options are available. A further €1.25m is also ringfenced for AHB Priority Acquisitions. In 2026, to date of the €6m funding provided to them, Wicklow County Council has drawn down €975,227.

Tenant in situ acquisitions are an option for local authorities to support households in the most precarious housing situations. They are, and will continue to be, available to local authorities for use as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted. However, they will never be the sole, or even the primary, option.

The default first option should almost always be securing the sustainment of the tenancy with the landlord, securing alternative accommodation through the Tenancy Sustainment and Placefinder services, or allocating a local authority or Approved Housing Body tenancy via a new build home or re-let.

Supporting individuals and families experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness remains my overriding priority. I continue to meet regularly with local authorities in this regard, pressing them to do all they can, be that maximising social housing allocations for homeless households and those facing imminent homelessness, availing of the scope provided by the Second Hand Acquisitions Programme, or increasing the delivery of social housing, which is critical in addressing homelessness.

The multi-annual funding approach introduced last year has continued in 2026. This provides Wicklow County Council with the scope to commit up to the value of 30% of its base 2026 allocation (i.e. €1.8 million) for acquisitions that will complete or drawdown funding in 2027. This will allow priority acquisitions to progress in the closing months of 2026, with certainty on funding in 2027, if such purchases do not complete this year.