After their landlord announced plans to sell the house, Evan and Nadia Kavanagh, from Clondalkin, reached out to South Dublin County Council (SDCC) to ask about the tenant-in-situ scheme.
The scheme allows the council to buy property from landlords when a tenant is at risk of homelessness.
The family provided all their documents in April, but in July they heard SDCC would not be able to go ahead with the purchase.
Earlier this month, SDCC became the third of Dublin’s four local authorities to pause applications for the scheme because the budget has been “exhausted”.
The decision, which follows similar announcements from Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council, affects around 41 houses already in the process of being bought by SDCC.
The Kavanaghs and their three young daughters are now facing eviction from their three-bedroom house on September 6.
“It was a punch in the gut,” he said. “I was at work when the landlord knocked on our door and gave us the eviction notice. He just apologised to my wife.
“My wife called me, crying. I was in the middle of work and unable to believe it was really happening.
“It’s a very stressful situation. Our middle child is diagnosed with Level 3 autism. We spent three years trying to get a diagnosis for her, and it was only last year that we got her into a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) unit.
She’s come a long way and we can’t bear the idea of moving too far away from this school
“The school she is in now finally accepted her, and she got into an SNA unit last September. In March, we were given the eviction notice.
“She’s come a long way and we can’t bear the idea of moving too far away from this school.”
Mr Kavanagh, who grew up in Ballyfermot, said they got in touch with SDCC as soon as they heard about the eviction.
“We hadn’t heard of the in-situ scheme ourselves, but the landlord mentioned he knew someone who had sold their house to the council a year before,” he said.
“We were working with the council and our landlord was looking to sell, so we were in communication with both.
“All that we heard back in the months following was that there was a new law being discussed around the in-situ scheme and that they had no information to give us – they couldn’t tell if the property was going to be bought.
Evan and Nadia Kavanagh with their children Jodie (9), Freya (4) and Willow (7). Photo: Gerry Mooney
“People in the council didn’t seem to know what was going on, and they couldn’t tell us anything. We were just told, ‘We don’t know’.
“In July, after months of following up, SDCC finally said they would not be able to buy the property because their budget had been cut.
“My whole life living in Dublin, I’ve never broken the law, I’ve never been in trouble for -anything, always done everything honestly.
“Now, when I needed the Government more than ever, I feel abandoned. As someone who has always followed the rules and always done the best for my family, my neighbours and our home, I feel let down.
“I feel like the Government don’t care about my predicament, my family’s predicament or my daughter’s predica- ment.
Mr Kavanagh said his family are availing of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, a programme that sees councils offer housing support for tenants in need.
We’ve always looked after the house and paid the rent on time
“Since we moved in, we have had no history of any complaints, we’ve always looked after the house and paid the rent on time,” he said, adding that “it’s hard to find ourselves” in this current situation.
“We’ve had enough money to get by – I have a good enough job to sustain the family, my wife is a full-time carer for our daughter and a homemaker.”
Evan and Nadia Kavanagh with their children Jodie (9), Freya (4) and Willow (7), who are facing eviction from their home in Clondalkin, Dublin. Photo: Gerry Mooney
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The family have been looking for homes close enough to their daughter’s school to ensure the move does not disrupt her future.
“The last I spoke to the council was when I rang them up to see if there was anything at all they could do to help,” Mr Kavanagh said.
“They just said they wished they could, but the budget had been used up.
“We’re applying for houses every two days, we’re sending on references or anything that can give us a head start, but we don’t hear back.
“Nothing has worked – it feels like we’re being completely ignored.
“We keep thinking about how little time we have left, and that stresses us out even more.”
A spokesperson for SDCC confirmed that its position on the tenant-in-situ scheme will be kept under review.
“To date, we have completed the purchase of 42 homes, with another 23 homes currently in conveyancing,” the spokesperson said. “This position will be kept under review should additional funding become available to SDCC.
“We were allocated €25m from the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage for acquisitions in 2025, with acquisitions to focus on tenant-in-situ acquisitions, older persons, people with disabilities and those exiting homeless services.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme