A young Dublin woman and her two infant children are facing homelessness due to new restrictions on the State’s tenant-in-situ scheme.
Aisling (25)* and her two daughters, who are three months and 18 months old respectively, moved into their rented home in Artane, north Dublin, in September 2024.
Before this, Aisling, who is a hairdresser, had been living in her father’s one-bedroom apartment, also in north Dublin.
When she became pregnant with her first child, she joined Dublin City Council’s housing list and secured approval for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) of €1,875 per month.
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She found it difficult to find a rental within her budget, and felt being a single mother on HAP went against her at viewings.
“I went to every viewing I could possibly get. It was a year and a half of non-stop trying every day. It took over,” she said.
Aisling said she could not find anywhere and got to the point where she “didn’t want to be here any more, I didn’t want to be alive”.
After searching for 18 months, she finally secured a two-bedroom apartment in Artane for €1,875 that was fully subsidised by her HAP. This meant she only had to pay a rent contribution to the council of €54 a week.
“I have a home for them now; it’s great. We have our own space, there’s safety for the kids to develop the way they should develop,“ she says.
However, her landlord has recently informed her of his intention to sell. The landlord came across the tenant-in-situ scheme and would “happily sell to the council”, she says. “He doesn’t want to see a family being made homeless.“
The scheme allows local authorities to buy properties where the tenants are facing eviction. It applies to tenants who have received a notice of termination, are deemed at risk of experiencing homelessness and who qualify for social housing support such as the HAP or the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).
New restrictions have been applied to the scheme this year, including a stipulation that the home must be in the HAP or RAS system for at least two years.
This means Aisling’s home will no longer qualify.
“If I had gotten the notice in December, I would have fit the criteria, I would have gotten a home for me and the kids. But now I don’t, and we’re going to be homeless now. This was my only way out.
“If they hadn’t put restrictions on a policy proven to work we wouldn’t be in this situation… we’re going to be on the street,” Aisling says.
Speaking about the changes to the tenant-in-situ scheme, Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said they “are even more restrictive than anticipated”.
“Not only will new applicants to the scheme be excluded, but many of the pending 2024 applications will now be assessed under the new rules. This will result in more renters becoming homeless who would have otherwise not ended up in emergency accommodation.
“It is also becoming clear that many councils have received less funding than what was spent last year. There is a real fear that money will run out before the end of 2025, leaving even more people at risk of homelessness,” he said.
The Department of Housing said it did not comment on individual cases but that all available options are considered by local authorities to prevent homelessness.
*Aisling did not want to use her real name to protect her family’s anonymity.
