Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 October 2008
478 Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if a person seeks to sell a house acquired under shared ownership due to a change of employment, he will ensure that the 50% or relevant figure recovery by the council would be confined to the current market price if that is less than the original purchase price. [35439/08]
View answerA person occupying a house under the shared ownership scheme has the right to buy out the local authority's share and acquire full ownership at any time. Alternatively, this may be done by purchasing, from time to time, additional shares of the authority's equity. The cost of purchasing an additional share or the redemption value of the outstanding share, for transactions commenced from 1 January 2003, is based on its initial cost adjusted annually to compensate for differences between the rent paid on the local authority's share and the interest calculated by reference to the prevailing interest rates. The same calculation methodology is utilised in the event that the owner of a house purchased through shared ownership wishes to sell the house on the open market.
The terms of individual shared ownership transactions are governed by the provisions of the lease entered into between the purchaser and the housing authority in each case.
