Vol. 481 No. 4
178 Mr. Ardagh asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will establish an expert group to deal with all the bureaucratic and legal difficulties which are preventing the sale of local authority flats and maisonettes to sitting tenants. [16309/97]
A detailed examination of the issues that arise in relation to the sale of local authority flats concluded that no practical arrangements could be made which would be satisfactory to tenant purchasers or local authorities or even to other tenants in a flat complex who would not wish to purchase. The three main reasons local authority flats would be a bad buy for tenants relate to: the level of service charges that would be necessary; public liability insurance; and the future saleability of purchased flats. These matters are outlined in greater detail in the policy document Social Housing — The Way Ahead (May 1995), copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library. Local authorities were advised that, while flats should not be offered for sale under the 1995 tenant purchase scheme, consideration should be given to the sale of maisonettes, particularly those which do not have common areas, where satisfactory arrangements not involving the difficulties that arise in the case of flats, could be devised.
