A YOUNG WOMAN says her family’s lives have been “upended” after a surprise change to a government housing scheme aimed at preventing tenants from losing their homes.

The measure, known as the Tenant in Situ scheme, allows councils to step in and purchase a privately rented home where a landlord is looking to sell the property.

Over the past two years, more than 2,500 households have been prevented from becoming homeless through the scheme according to recent figures laid before the Dáil.

But under changes proposed by the government, funding for refurbishments to homes to be carried out before the sale will no longer be granted.

It forms part of a raft of changes coming to the scheme, with opposition parties calling for the government to reverse its plans.

The government hopes to save money by removing refurbishments from the scheme, with recently outlined plans noting that many will have already received State supports through other schemes such as the Housing Assistance Payment (Hap). This sees money paid to a private landlord for a tenant who qualifies for the council housing list but who can’t get a home due to often lengthy waiting lists.

For Rachel Derwin, a student nurse in the final year of her internship at St James Hospital, it would mean she and her six-year-old son Albie will lose out on the Swords home they’ve made their own over the past five years.

Her landlord had approached her and Fingal County Council to sell the home through the tenant in situ scheme, only to find that refurbishments would no longer be covered.

In the family’s case, the home has a poor energy rating with substantial work needed to bring it up to standard. The works would amount to thousands of euro, which the family does not have.

“The home doesn’t have insulation but it is in good condition and it is a home for us. It’s the only home my son has ever known,” Rachel told The Journal.

“I’ve lived in emergency accommodation and I’ve been able to live here for the last few years and do my studies to become a nurse.” 

She said she was worried she may not be able to keep up her job if she had to move out – and may have to consider emigrating. 

“I’m hoping my situation won’t lead to that but it’s definitely something that would have to be considered.”

She urged the Government to rethink its planned approach to the Tenant in Situ scheme. The planned changes have also prompted criticism from opposition parties in the Dáil in recent weeks.

Local Labour TD Duncan Smith, who is working with the Derwin family on their case, warned that the government risked making the scheme “so tight and so restrictive” that it would be rendered useless. 

It will be a zombie scheme – it will exist in theory but in practice will have little utility and won’t help people avoid homelessness.

Other changes would see the deprioritisation of single people and couples without children from accessing this scheme.

Smith said he believes the Department of Housing is not a fan of the scheme due to the costs required to upgrade properties.

“The threshold for standards in properties are pretty high – as they should be – but the reality is an awful lot of the landlords interested in the tenant in situ are accidental landlords who inherited properties and so they’re not in the most amazing state.”

Smith said the expansion of the scheme following the contentious lifting of the eviction ban in March 2023 had given an opportunity for some landlords “who wanted to do right by their tenant and didn’t want to see them going into homelessness”. 

“It allowed some landlords – particularly accidentally ones who had inherited a property – to basically say, ‘I’m not going to go for pure profit here’ and they could work with the local authority, sell the property and make sure their tenant didn’t go homeless.”

Smith added that local authorities such as Fingal County Council have attempted to try to “keep applications alive as best as they can” but recent approaches – like that of the Derwins – have become much less likely to be successful.

Department response

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing confirmed that a circular containing the new funding requirements will issue shortly to local councils.

It reiterated that properties in the Tenant in Situ scheme are receive “significant Exchequer funded rent supports every week” and subject to inspection by local authorities to ensure they meet the said standards, indicating that officials believe the homes should not require major works.

“Some refurbishment works may be required in the short to medium term but these should be noted as part of the condition survey and other funding streams exist to facilitate these works,” the spokesperson said.

“Local authorities take appropriate steps to ensure that their first response will be to support households to prevent homelessness in cases where tenants have been served with a notice of termination by their landlord. A local authority will assess the options available in each case and decide the appropriate action.”