Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 29 Apr 1992

Vol. 418 No. 8

Adjournment Debate. - House Purchase Scheme.

Mr. G. Mitchell

I wish to thank the Chair for allowing me raise this question on the Adjournment. I wish to ask the Minister to consider the introduction of a new house sales scheme. In Dublin since the millennium year people have not been able to apply to purchase their homes. I realise that the same problem applies around the country. Many people who applied to purchase their homes during the millennium year have still not had their applications cleared. I can understand that that might have something to do with staff levels or industrial relations matters concerning Dublin Corporation but that should not prohibit the sale of houses to tenants, some of whom have been in their houses since before 1939. Some of those involved are elderly people who were not in a position during the millennium year to apply to purchase their house but are now in a position to do so. Having been in their house since 1939 or earlier, they want to be in a position to leave the house to a loved one so that the house continues in the ownership of the family.

The rules are that a sub-tenant must have resided with the tenant for two years or for ten years out of the past 15 years to be considered as a successor in the case of a tenancy. However, if somebody becomes a sub-tenant shortly before the death of the tenant it is not possible to become the tenant-purchaser because he or she has not resided there for the past two years.

There are many anomalies in the scheme. For example, there are people who live in flats who were given to understand that they would be able to purchase the flats and there are people living in maisonettes who were given to understand they could apply to purchase their maisonettes. Thre are people living in houses — some of whom are in their eighties and many of them in their seventies — who are very concerned that they will have nothing to show for the 53 or 54 years they paid rent to Dublin Corporation. For most of those people their homes would be their only real asset if they were able to purchase them.

The millennium scheme offered to tenant purchasers a 50 per cent deduction on the market value. This was attractive to some people. Previous schemes operated on a different basis. The market value system did not operate for all tenants. Many people said that they would wait until 1989 or 1990 for a new scheme and that they would apply under the new scheme as it would be more advantageous. Other people simply could not apply to purchase their houses. Many people whose children had emigrated were left on their own with limited income, and so could not purchase a house. Now because their family has come back and is living with them they are in a position to make extra repayments and are anxious to be able to leave the house to a son or daughter living with them.

Since the millennium year the rent for many people is now more than the repayments would be. Those who pay a little tax, can set the interest against the tax and their repayments are even less. It is grossly unfair not to allow them to purchase their houses. The argument that we want to keep these houses within the housing stock is not valid, because we are probably talking about a very small number of houses. Even if it takes some years before these sales are cleared, I appeal to the Minister to approve a new house sales scheme in the interests of fairness. It would leave a lot of old people with a certain amount of happiness in the autumn of their lives.

Mr. Smith

The 1988 tenant purchase schemes was a special "once-off" scheme which offered particularly generous terms in order to encourage the maximum number of local authority tenants to become owners of the dwellings in which they lived. It was introduced at a time when there was a degree of instability in many local authority estates following the departure of tenants who had availed of the £5,000 surrender grant. and when the numbers on the housing list were less than they are at present. All eligible tenants received a basic discount of 40 per cent off market value and those living in pre-1960 houses received an extra discount of 10 per cent. The scheme was extremely successful and it is estimated that some 30,000 of the 40,000 applications received have now been dealt with. The processing of such a volume of applications did, however, put a strain on the resources of some local authorities.

Dublin Corporation received some 11,000 applications and while they have made considerable progress in finalising sales they had, at 31 December, 1991, still over 3,600 applications, in respect of houses and flats, awaiting completion. Certain difficulties in relation to the sale of flats and, in particular, to the disposal of common areas in a complex were brought to my attention in late 1991. The recently published Housing Bill, on which the Second Stage debate is due to commence later this week, includes new provisions to overcome these problems. The corporation are aware of the position and it is now a matter for them to ensure that all other aspects of the sales procedures are completed so that sales can be finalised as soon as the Bill becomes law. I am, anxious that sales under the 1988 scheme would, as far as is practicable, be completed before I consider the introduction of a further scheme. I share the Deputy's concern at any delays in completion of sales but I am satisfied that the existing well-established procedures of authorities can cope with any problems that may be caused by the delays in matters such as rights of succession and so on.

Housing authorities are, at present, dealing with the various schemes introduced under "A Plan for Social Housing". An important aim of this plan is to reduce the traditional degree of dependence on the direct provision of local authority housing by the introduction of new measures to provide for a greater choice in housing leading to a more efficient and equitable use of the available resources. Among the aids available under the plan to local authority tenants who wish to become home-owners are the mortgage allowance and shared ownership schemes together with increased house purchase loan and income limits and the provision of subsidised sites. It is necessary that authorities be given the opportunity to promote and implement these measures. We must also bear in mind that it is necessary for authorities to retain a pool of housing which can generate vacancies for those persons on the waiting list whose circumstances are such that direct local authority rented housing is the only option. In these circumstances the introduction of a sales scheme could tend to prevent authorities from focusing their attention and efforts on the wide-ranging options contained in the plan.

In all these circumstances I have no immediate intention of introducing a new tenant purchase scheme but I will continue to keep the matter under review in the light of developments.