Just 207 homes rented under Fair Deal scheme despite promises to free up thousands
Just over 200 homes belonging to people living in nursing homes, under the Fair Deal scheme, have been rented out, despite a previous housing minister saying thousands would enter the rental market.The HSE has confirmed that 207 houses are being rented out from people on the scheme.Reforms introduced in early 2024 allowed for individuals living in nursing homes to keep 100% of their rental income through the Fair Deal scheme.The Government said this change would free up more homes for the rental market at a time of chronic shortages and sky-high rents.Previously, there was a requirement for 40% of rental income to go towards the person’s nursing home care.During the previous government, it was estimated that as many as 8,000 properties were left vacant due to rental restrictions with the Fair Deal scheme.Then housing minister Darragh O’Brien argued that the changes would see thousands of houses enter into the private rental market.At the time, reports estimated that more than 3,000 properties would enter into private rental as people living in nursing homes rented out their houses.Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin criticised the Government over the failure to get more rental properties onto the market through its changes: "This is an example of the Government greatly exaggerating the impact of their housing schemes,” Mr Ó Broin said.
Two years on, and what we see is the number of homes that have been brought into use is absolutely tiny.
"This Government has far too many schemes that are significantly underperforming, and that’s one of the many reasons that their housing plan is failing.”Mr Ó Broin said the Government is not reforming the delivery process for social and affordable homes.“My sense over the last number of years is that these schemes aren’t actually designed to deliver homes.“They’re designed to provide a minister with a press announcement, which is greatly exaggerated and then the minister hopes that the public and the opposition won’t pay attention to the failure of those schemes.”He added there are “far too many” schemes in place, and they slow down both local authorities and approved housing bodies in the delivery of new housing.The criticism of the Fair Deal changes comes as the Government is due to bring forward its new legislation on wider reforms to the rental market on Tuesday.These proposals will allow landlords to reset the rents they charge to the market rate, either when a new tenancy is created, or every six years.
The laws will effectively ban no-fault evictions — where a landlord can end a tenancy without having to prove the tenant did something wrong, such as breaking the lease or not paying rent — for larger landlords with four or more properties.Smaller landlords will be permitted to evict a tenant in some circumstances, including if they or an immediate family member are planning to live in the property.A no-fault eviction will be permitted in circumstances where they are selling the property to fund the purchase of their own house.Landlords will not be permitted to reset their rents after a no-fault eviction.For tenants who go into Fair Deal properties after March 1, they will not be covered by the six-year rule.It will fall under the new financial hardship clauses, which allow landlords to evict tenants if they are experiencing issues like bankruptcy or homelessness.
Tadgh McNally, Political Reporter
