The affordable housing scheme, which provides for the sale to eligible purchasers of houses at a discount from the market value, includes provision for a claw-back. As part of the measures to increase the supply of affordable housing set out in Action on Housing, I introduced a site subsidy for houses provided by local authorities under the affordable housing scheme and also in respect of new houses sold by local authorities under the shared ownership scheme. I also brought the provisions of the claw-back under the affordable housing scheme in line with the claw-back provisions under Part V of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, and I extended those provisions to the shared ownership scheme for new houses sold by local auth orities at a discount from market value. A claw-back provision in the terms of the sale of sites scheme operated by local authorities, where such sites are sold at less than their market value was also introduced.
The provision of a subsidy financed from public funds is necessary to enable eligible households to attain home ownership while the provision for a claw-back is also necessary to ensure there is no short-term profiteering on the resale of a subsidised house or site. In the particular case referred to by the Deputy the sites with a market value of £20,000 are being sold under the sale of sites scheme at a discounted cost of £3,000 per site, that is, at a discount of 85% on the current market value.