I propose to take Questions Nos. 583 and 591 together.
My colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has signed the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 484 of 2015) to enable the new scheme for the tenant purchase of existing local authority houses along incremental purchase lines to come into operation on 1 January 2016.
The new-year commencement will allow time for housing authorities to familiarise themselves with the detail of the Regulations and the new Scheme and for interested tenants to make the necessary preparations to apply to purchase. A circular will issue today to local authorities together with detailed guidance on the new Scheme and I will make this information available on my Department’s website. Once Members of the Oireachtas have had an opportunity to examine it in detail, I will certainly consider the necessity and desirability of an information session for Members.
Given the variables, in terms of each individual tenant who may be interested in availing of the Scheme, it is not possible to accurately estimate the numbers of local authority houses that will eventually be sold. Furthermore, under section 13 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, as amended, housing authorities may, with my prior approval, use sales receipts and moneys received from tenant purchasers in respect of incremental purchase charges under the new tenant purchase scheme for the provision, refurbishment or maintenance of housing or related purposes. Additional resources accruing from sales under the new scheme will, therefore, allow local authorities to invest in the improvement and maintenance of existing housing and for the provision of additional social housing, while allowing tenants to purchase their homes, if they wish to do so. Therefore, the net effect of the Scheme on local authority housing stock will take some time to become fully apparent.
The net effect of the tenant purchase scheme also needs to be examined in the context of the supply of social housing more generally. The Social Housing Strategy 2020,
sets
out clear, measureable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing by 110,000 to meet the housing needs of all households on the housing list with flexibility to meet future demand. The Strategy has been backed up by successive Budgets where social housing has been a priority. Budget 2015 provided for almost €800 million to support a significant expansion in social housing provision. Budget 2016 builds on the investment with an Exchequer provision of almost €811 million. In addition, local authorities will fund a range of housing services from their own resources to the value of over €112 million, bringing the total housing provision in 2016 to €923 million. The Government’s Capital Plan commits €2.9 billion towards social housing out to 2021, further demonstrating the Government’s commitment to addressing housing need.
As the Deputy will be aware, tenant purchase schemes have been a consistent policy of successive Governments for many years and the new Scheme will replace the previous 1995 Scheme which closed in June 2014. The number of local authority houses that will eventually be sold under the Scheme must be considered in the context of providing opportunities for local authority tenants to become home owners and thereby promoting sustainable communities and also the additional revenue that the Scheme will generate for social housing initiatives.
