Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 June 2016
105. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if persons who acquired houses under the shared ownership scheme will be eligible to purchase houses under the new tenant incremental purchase scheme 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16104/16]
View answer106. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if persons who were allocated social housing under the Part V arrangements will be eligible to buy out their houses under the tenant incremental purchase scheme 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16105/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 105 and 106 together.
The new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum, have been in receipt of social housing support for at least 1 year and have been allocated a house under a local authority allocation scheme.
There is no provision under the 2016 Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme to allow Shared Ownership borrowers to purchase their house at a discounted price. The Shared Ownership Schemes were designed to enable borrowers to achieve full home ownership over the duration of their Shared Ownership agreement.
The provisions of Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, are designed to enable the development of mixed tenure sustainable communities. Part V units are excluded from the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme to ensure that units delivered under this mechanism will remain available for people in need of social housing support and that the original policy goals of the legislation are not eroded over time. The continued development of mixed tenure communities remains very important in promoting social integration.
The new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is in the early stages of implementation and the Department is monitoring the operation of the scheme in consultation with housing authorities. In line with the commitment in the new Programme for a Partnership Government to make the scheme more attractive for social housing tenants and to raise new funds for housing development, it is intended to undertake a review of the scheme following the first 12 months of operation and to bring forward any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are considered necessary based on the evidence gathered at that stage.
