There is no provision in my Department's voluntary housing capital assistance and capital loan and subsidy schemes for the purchase of individual houses by tenants and there are no plans to introduce such a provision. A tenant purchase scheme is not considered 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 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; low cost housing sites scheme and exemption from the income limits for local authority loans. Full details of these options are available from local authorities.
