Just 207 long-term nursing home residents renting out their homes

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Thousands of homes countrywide are lying empty as their owners now require long-term nursing home care, despite Government efforts to tap them to help address the housing crisis.

Figures made available to Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin show that just 207 homes of nursing home residents availing of Fair Deal State support for their nursing home care are being rented out in their absence.

That is a long way from the 5,000 homes the then government had hoped would be freed up when it started liberalising the regime on renting homes under Fair Deal back in 2022. At the time, then minister for housing Darragh O’Brien called it “the most significant change that we’ve had Fair Deal since its establishment”.

“While Sinn Féin did not object to the measure, we always said that the minister’s claims were an exaggeration and that only a small number of properties would filter through to long-term rental, which has proved to be the case,” said Ó Broin.

“This is just one of a long list of greatly exaggerated claims made by ministers of housing to schemes that are badly designed, poorly implemented and greatly exaggerated in terms of their impact on housing supply.”

More than 24,250 people are availing of Fair Deal to part-fund their nursing home care. More than half of those own a home, although in some cases, those properties continue to be occupied by spouses or family.

A Health Service Executive spokesman said that, as of the end of last year, 4,281 Fair Deal residents were in receipt of a nursing home loan – generally issued to cover money falling due against the family home.

In 2022, the government amended the rules around the financial contribution of nursing home residents to the cost of their care, halving to 40 per cent the portion of net rental income that homeowners had to contribute to the cost of their care.

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Until that point, the figure had been 80 per cent of net rental income in line with the figure for all other income.

The move was designed to bring more homes into the rental market, with the spread of homes involved across the State being a particularly attractive feature.

In 2024, the Government decided that no rental income would be taken into consideration against the cost of care, meaning nursing home residents could keep 100 per cent of net rental income.

Rental income was still liable for income tax and USC as it would be for any other landlord.

However, the initiative has failed to trigger any large-scale release of more rental accommodation. In response to a parliamentary question from Ó Broin, the HSE has disclosed the 207 family homes of Fair Deal nursing home residents “are recorded as being rented as at 31st December 2025″.