More children will become homeless if the Tenant in Situ Scheme is not renewed, Sinn Féin has warned. 

Last night, Dublin City Council voted for a Sinn Féin emergency motion calling on the Minister for Housing to release funding to keep people in their homes.

The scheme allows local authorities to buy a home if tenants are facing eviction due to the landlord selling the property.

Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan said the scheme is imperative if families are to remain in their homes. 

“This year we have waited and waited and waited for the Minister for Housing to release the funding and release the figures to allow us to buy homes,” he said. 

A house for sale sign in a village. Picture by: Alamy.com.

In January, homelessness hit yet another record high - with 15,286 people accessing emergency accommodation. 

Among them were 4,603 children. 

“Last year, the Tenant In Situ Scheme proved an essential tool in the toolbox of this City Council in preventing hundreds and hundreds of families slipping into the deeply traumatic journey of homelessness,” he said. 

“Nearly 3,500 children are homeless in Dublin tonight; many more would be homeless only for us being able to use that essential tool in our toolbox, the Tenant in Situ Scheme.”

The Department for Housing has been contacted for comment.

Main image: A young boy in poverty. Picture by: Alamy.com