Skip to main content
Normal View

Housing Provision

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 October 2021

Tuesday, 19 October 2021

Questions (440)

Denis Naughten

Question:

440. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 304 of 22 June 2021 and the subsequent publication of the Housing for All strategy, his plans to include income from the rural social scheme when assessing the means threshold for purchasing a rural local authority house; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50454/21]

View answer

Written answers

The 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 and having been in receipt of social housing support for at least one year.

The minimum reckonable income for eligibility under the scheme is determined by the relevant local authority in accordance with the detailed provisions of the Ministerial Direction issued under Sections 24(3) and (4) of the 2014 Act. In the determination of the minimum reckonable income, local authorities can include income from a number of different sources and classes, such as from employment, private pensions, maintenance payments and certain social welfare payments, including pensions, where the social welfare payment is secondary to employment income.  A housing authority shall disregard income that is once-off, temporary or short-term in nature and that is outside the regular pattern of a person’s annual income, including the Rural Social Scheme.

In determining reckonable income, the income of all tenants of the house, including adult children that are joint tenants, is included, as is the income of the spouse, civil partner or other partner/co-habitant of a tenant who lives in the house with them, thus ensuring the appropriate level of discount is applied to the purchase price.

The minimum income criterion was introduced in order to ensuring the sustainability of the scheme.  Applicants must demonstrate that they have an income that is long-term and sustainable in nature. This ensures that the tenant purchasing the house is in a financial position, as the owner, to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charged period, in compliance with the conditions of the order transferring the ownership of, and responsibility for, the house from the local authority to the tenant.

A review of the first 12 months of the Scheme’s operation has been undertaken. In addition, Housing for All, A New Housing Plan for Ireland, commits to maintain the right of social housing tenants to purchase their own home with some changes to eligibility. The review and the commitments in Housing for All are being examined as part of the work on the broader social housing reform agenda. I expect to be in a position to finalise changes to the Scheme once the work on these reform measures is complete.

Top
Share