Social and Affordable Housing.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 January 2005

Wednesday, 26 January 2005

Questions (1245, 1246, 1247)

Richard Bruton

Question:

1312 Mr. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has examined the housing options for lone parents engaged in part-time work who seek to acquire an affordable home; if his Department has done any working examples of the way in which a person on one-parent family allowance doing part-time work and paying for child care would be able to afford to purchase under the affordable housing scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34276/04]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. N. Ahern)

The administration of the various affordable housing schemes is a matter for each local authority in accordance with general terms and conditions set by my Department. It is a matter for local authorities to determine the priority accorded to persons, including lone parents, to whom affordable houses are allocated. They must examine each application for affordable housing on its merits having regard, inter alia, to such factors as the amount of deposit available and ability to make repayments. In this regard, they have been advised that mortgage repayments should not exceed 35% of a household’s net income. To further assist affordability, a graded mortgage subsidy based on the level of household income, of between €1,300 and €2,550, is available to assist with repayments.

The terms of the various affordable housing schemes will continue to be kept under review. In this regard, the NESC report, Housing in Ireland: Performance and Policy, which was published at the end of 2004, outlines the factors underpinning the development of the housing sector in Ireland. In the light of the report, the Government will consider any further changes required to the terms and conditions of the various housing schemes, within the resources available, to better address our aims.

Richard Bruton

Question:

1313 Mr. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the income thresholds and the level of subsidy towards repayments available to persons on shared ownership or affordable housing; the date on which these thresholds and subvention levels were last changed; the value that the thresholds would now have reached if the income threshold had been indexed to the average industrial wage and if the subvention had been indexed to the rent proportion of the index of average purchased under shared ownership; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34277/04]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. N. Ahern)

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.

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

1314 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if and when tenants at a location (details supplied) in County Kildare will be allowed to purchase the dwellings of which they are tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34278/04]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. N. Ahern)

This project was funded under the voluntary housing capital loan and subsidy scheme which supports the provision of housing accommodation by approved voluntary bodies. 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, as the sale of individual housing units could 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 demands.

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.