Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 March 2004
568 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the plans his Department has to remove the conditions on rental subsidy housing that prevent the tenants purchasing such houses after a period of residency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8898/04]
View answer
There are no plans to make provision in my Department's capital loan and subsidy scheme — formerly known as the rental subsidy scheme — for voluntary housing projects for the purchase of individual houses by tenants. A tenant purchase scheme is not desirable at this stage of the development of the voluntary housing sector in this country, as the sale of individual housing units would undermine the capacity and resources of voluntary housing bodies to manage and maintain their estates and continue to provide further housing projects to meet pressing needs.
However, residents of more than one year's duration of houses provided under the scheme who wish to become owner-occupiers may, on surrendering their house to the approved voluntary housing body, qualify for some of the following benefits: special mortgage allowance of €11,450 over five years for mortgages created on or after 1 January 2002 to assist with mortgage repayments; the shared ownership scheme without having to satisfy the income eligibility criteria; improvement works in lieu scheme in respect of the dwelling they are acquiring; and low-cost housing sites scheme and exemption from the income limits for local authority loans.
Full details of those options are available from local authorities.
