€14.3m spent on property acquisitions since 2023

More than €14.3 million has been spent by Meath County Council on property acquisitions since 2023 under its housing acquisition programme, with new figures revealing the scale, pace and refusals associated with the Tenant-in-Situ pathway.

The details were confirmed at a recent full meeting of Meath County Council following a question from Aontú Navan councillor Emer Toibín, who sought a detailed breakdown of purchases, refusals, costs and timelines linked to the scheme.

In response, the council’s Housing Department confirmed that Tenant-in-Situ operates within the authority’s wider acquisition programme rather than as a standalone scheme.

Total acquisition expenditure — including purchase prices and completed repairs — amounted to €4.371 million in 2023, €8.408 million in 2024, and €1.54 million to date in 2025, bringing cumulative spending to €14.3m.

The council also confirmed that repairs are ongoing on eight properties, with associated costs to be added to expenditure figures once works are completed.

For 2025 specifically, five Tenant-in-Situ purchases have been completed, with three in Navan and two in the Laytown/Bettystown municipal district. A further four applications remain active this year, two in Navan, one in Ashbourne and one in Ratoath.

Councillors were told that decision-making timelines are largely determined by inspections, valuations, negotiations, internal approvals and conveyancing processes.

The council stated that a typical overall timeframe of approximately 25 weeks applies from inspection stage, though this can be affected by legal or vendor-related delays.

The response also revealed that ten Tenant-in-Situ applications were refused in 2025, with reasons including poor property condition or structural issues, homes exceeding applicants’ needs, prices above department limits, and cases where tenants were no longer in situ.

Cllr Toibín said the figures highlight both the importance of the scheme for preventing homelessness and the need for greater transparency around refusals, timelines and value for money.

The Tenant-in-Situ pathway is intended to allow local authorities to purchase homes where tenants are at risk of losing their accommodation due to sale, enabling them to remain in place as social housing tenants.