Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 1 Mar 1988

Vol. 378 No. 6

Written Answers. - Local Authority Tenant Purchase Scheme.

205.

Mr. Quinn

asked the Minister for the Environment in respect of each local authority housing area the numbers of local authority houses which are currently occupied and which would be deemed to be eligible for inclusion in the existing and proposed tenant purchase scheme having regard to the fact that it is presumed that senior citizens dwellings and blocks of local authority flats are excluded from the new tenant purchase scheme for the purposes of statistics; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

208.

Mr. Quinn

asked the Minister for the Environment when the working party which was set up to advise on the details of the application of the tenant house purchase scheme to local authority multiple dwellings (flats) will complete its work; whether he intends to make his proposed new tenant purchase scheme available to such local authority flat tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

209.

Mr. Boland

asked the Minister for the Environment whether the provisions of a local authority tenant purchase scheme, which he announced at the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis, will (i) allow tenants of council (a) flats (b) maisonettes and (c) old persons' dwellings, to purchase the freehold of their housing unit (ii) be at fixed interest rates and (iii) qualify for mortgage interest relief for taxation purposes.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Connolly)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 205, 208 and 209 together.

The information available in the Department in relation to the number of local authority dwellings in each area is being compiled and will be forwarded to Deputy Quinn as soon as possible.

As in previous tenant purchase schemes, dwellings provided for and occupied by elderly persons are excluded from the terms of the 1988 scheme, details of which have issued to housing authorities. They may include flats and maisonettes in the scheme. However, there are certain practical difficulties in such sales. A working group, representative of the Department and local authorities, which has been examining the matter, is awaiting the completion of a survey of tenant attitudes to the purchase of flats. When their report is available, the steps which can be taken to encourage sales of flats will be considered further. Flats and maisonettes are exempt from the requirement that local authority dwellings be sold in fee simple and such sale would normally be by way of lease.

Repayments under the new scheme are at a fixed interest rate of 9.25 per cent for the duration of the repayment period and the interest content of repayments may qualify for income tax relief.

206.

Mr. Quinn

asked the Minister for the Environment in respect of each local authority housing area (a) the average weekly rent per dwelling excluding flats and senior citizens dwellings and (b) the estimated capital value as construed for the purpose of the tenant purchase scheme (s) of such dwellings; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

210.

Mr. Quinn

asked the Minister for the Environment in respect of each local authority housing area, where applicable, the numbers of dwellings which could be described as flats or apartments which are owned by the local authority.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Connolly)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 206 and 210 together. The information requested is not available in the Department.

207.

Mr. Quinn

asked the Minister for the Environment if he will outline for each local authority housing area the amount of revenue which each housing authority has received from the proceeds of local authority house sales for the years 1983 to 1987 inclusive; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Connolly)

The information so far as it is available in the Department is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

211.

Mr. Quinn

asked the Minister for the Environment in respect of each local authority housing area the number of houses which were sold to tenants for each of the various tenant purchase schemes that were introduced since the initial tenant purchase scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

212.

Mr. Boland

asked the Minister for the Environment (a) each of the periods since the foundation of the State when vesting schemes or tenant purchase schemes were available to local authority tenants who wished to purchase their homes and (b) the total number of houses which have been purchased under these schemes.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Connolly)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 211 and 212 together.

Tenants of local authorities have over the years been able to purchase their rented houses under different arrangements details of which are given in the Department's annual reports.

Information about the number of houses purchased under the individual schemes is not available in the Department. However, the annual reports also give details of the number of houses sold annually by local authorities in earlier years; more recently these details have been included in the Bulletin of Housing Statistics for the final quarter of each year.