Under the affordable housing scheme launched in March 1999, a mortgage subsidy is payable to qualifying households based on income bands. A similar subsidy applies under the shared ownership scheme towards the rent payments for that portion of the equity not yet purchased.
The qualifying income limits and the amounts of the rent and mortgage subsidies under the shared ownership and affordable housing schemes respectively were revised in January 2002 for transactions completed on or after 1 January 2000 and are as shown in the following table.
Household Income per annum
|
Mortgage/Rent Subsidy payable per annum
|
€13,000 and under
|
€2,550
|
€13,001 to €15,500
|
€2,300
|
€15,501 to €18,000
|
€2,050
|
€18,001 to €20,500
|
€1,800
|
€20,501 to €23,000
|
€1,550
|
€23,001 to €25,500
|
€1,300
|
Over €25,500
|
Nil
|
If the income limits were increased in line with the growth in the average industrial wage since 2000, the maximum qualifying income would have risen from €25,500 to about €31,800.
The information requested regarding the value of the thresholds if the subvention had been indexed to the rent proportion and average purchased under the shared ownership is not available in my Department. Data are currently collected on shared ownership scheme transactions under a number of house price ranges rather than on the average price of dwellings purchased and a feature of the scheme is that different equity stakes can be purchased so the rent proportion differs from purchaser to purchaser. Furthermore, purchasers can also increase the size of the equity portion during the course of the scheme.
Since 2000, there have been significant improvements to the shared ownership scheme and the access to affordable housing has been significantly enhanced through increased output under the 1999 scheme. This will grow in future years as additional units come through under Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2002 and the affordable housing initiative.
I also announced increases in the income limits for the shared ownership and affordable housing schemes and house purchase loans in July of this year, together with increases in the loan limits, in line with growth in average wage costs and house price inflation. These targeted measures are important mechanisms of providing access to affordable housing for low and modest income households by providing them with a house at a discounted price. With the increased availability of such housing, the funding of a loan becomes a less critical barrier to house purchase particularly with the growth in disposable incomes and historically low interest rates.
Nonetheless, the terms and conditions of these schemes will continue to be kept under review with reference to the housing forum, which has been charged under Sustaining Progress to review the effectiveness of all social and affordable housing programmes, and in light of the NESC report which was published just before the end of 2004.