AHBRA Opening Statement to The Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage - 30 September 2025
Chair, Deputies, Senators,
The invitation relates to the Peter McVerry Trust, I will begin there.
I must firstly note that AHBRA has a number of regulatory processes ongoing, so my comments may be limited in places, but I will provide as much detail as possible.
Serious concerns about the Trust emerged in July 2023. We commenced a statutory investigation in October 2023 and, in December 2024, published the inspectors’ report, which identified serious failings in governance, financial management, and conflict of interest handling. These failings represent significant breaches of AHBRA’s regulatory standards.
To protect tenants and bring the organisation into compliance as quickly as possible, we began a monitoring process to oversee the completion of clear, time-bound remedial actions. In February 2025, Crowe were appointed as independent experts to support this process.
In July 2025 to focus progress, we issued a determination of non-compliance, requiring high-priority reforms across governance, finance, property, and tenancy management. This included the publication of the 2023 accounts; completion of the asset and liability register and implementation of new rent collection policies. This part of the process is due for completion in the coming days, and our assessment of compliance will be based on the evidence gathered.
In parallel, in September 2025, we issued a statutory direction. The direction is intended to underpin ongoing regulatory oversight, reinforce existing cooperation at board level and ensure timely notification of significant events such as property disposals, governance changes or financial risks.
The Trust is cooperating, and progress has been made in recent months. However, progress has been slower than required, and we remain concerned about the capacity to deliver all necessary reforms. Monitoring continues, and if non-compliance persists, further escalation remains possible, including cancellation of registration as the most serious sanction available to us.
Wider Lessons and Collaboration
The Peter McVerry Trust case shows how important early reporting is. If issues are flagged early, risks can be managed before they escalate. We are reinforcing this message across the sector through our Notifiable Events process but as I will come to below, we do not rely just on Approved Housing Bodies to notify us of problems.
Collaboration has also been critical. In responding, we have worked closely with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, and the Charities Regulator. A joined-up approach is essential to protecting tenants and public investment.
About AHBRA and the Approved Housing Bodies Sector
For context, AHBRA is the independent statutory regulator for Approved Housing Bodies, established under the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act, 2019. Our job is to protect tenants, safeguard public investment, and ensure Approved Housing Bodies are well governed, financially sound, and delivering quality housing services.
Committee Members will be aware that the sector is a large and increasingly important part of housing delivery.
There are currently 436 registered Approved Housing Bodies. Together, they manage and maintain close to 68,000 homes. The sector reported €1.95 billion in income in 2024, with assets valued at €9.8 billion and liabilities of almost €8.6 billion.
The nine largest Approved Housing Bodies, including the Peter Mc Verry Trust, currently own and manage nearly 73% of all dwellings in the sector. While almost one-third of all Approved Housing Bodies are planning to grow over the next three years. In terms of the number of dwellings, the majority of this expansion – approximately 82% – is expected to come from just 2% of them. Much of this growth is driven by construction-led development and cost rental funding.
The sector’s growth in both scale and complexity brings added risk. As a result, our oversight is deepening as we engage more with the sector and build stronger stakeholder relations with funders, local authorities and other regulators.
Our Approach to Oversight
Our oversight is risk-based and proportionate to the size and nature of the AHB.
It combines several elements:
- Annual Monitoring: All Approved Housing Bodies are required to submit yearly information on tenancy management, property and asset management, financial management and governance. This helps us identify risk and tailor education and guidance.
- We carry out detailed compliance assessments against the Standards for AHBs and publish the outcomes on our website. Since the first assessments were completed in 2024, we have issued a total of 45 AHB assessment reports.
- Notifiable Events: Approved Housing Bodies must report significant or material issues. Over 90 were submitted in the past year, most commonly governance-related, enabling early regulatory engagement and intervention where necessary.
- Concerns: We also review complaints from third parties. 12 concerns were raised last year, some were closed quickly, others guided further monitoring and assessment activity.
- Investigations and Enforcement: Formal investigations are reserved for the most serious cases. Our first such investigation, launched in 2023, focused on the Peter McVerry Trust.
- Collaboration and intelligence-gathering: We work closely with funders, local authorities, and other regulators, and we also draw on open-source information such as company filings, press reporting, and public accounts. This helps us to identify risks early and act quickly where needed.
Conclusion
The Peter McVerry Trust is not representative of the sector, but it has regrettably served as a powerful reminder of the risks that exist. The Approved Housing Bodies sector is central to Ireland’s housing system. It is large, diverse, and growing. Our role is to make sure it is built on strong governance, sound finances, and the protection of tenants. That remains our focus.
Fergal O’Leary,
Chief Executive Officer, Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority