"Utter Madness" - 73% decrease in tenant-in-situ homes bought in Louth

The number of homes bought in Louth under the tenant-in-situ scheme decreased by 73% in 2025. 

The scheme allows local authorities to purchase rental properties from landlords who are selling, preventing the tenant from becoming homeless. 

Figures published by Sinn Féin showed that just 15 homes were bought in Louth under the scheme compared to 55 the year previous. 

It showed a that the number of Social Housing assessments in Louth dropped from 62 to 27. 

Eoin Ó Broin, Sinn Féin's spokesperson on housing warned that further cuts to the scheme will "force more people into homelessness". 

The figures provided to Sinn Féín by local authorities show Louth County Council spent over €9 million, purchasing homes compared to just shy of €17 million in 2024. 

The Sinn Féín TD said funding cuts ranged from 72% to 96%, with Dún Laoighre-Rathdown in Dublin, having its funding cut from €21 million to just €830,000. 

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"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."
 
"We warned Minister James Browne that this would be the case but he carried on regardless," he said. 

Deputy Ó Broin said while this year's allocation have not yet been made,  the indications are that allocations are set to be decreased further for 2026. 

"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," he said. 

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.