Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
344. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the changes that he made to the tenant incremental purchase scheme include allowing cash purchases, treating State pensions as income for the purposes of an income assessment 50% from earned income rule; and if the revised scheme has rules with respect to occupation [11009/22]
View answerThe Tenant Purchase Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the scheme.
Among other things, eligible tenants must meet a minimum income requirement to qualify under the scheme. This requirement has a dual purpose. It ensures the scheme is sustainable, and the tenant purchasing the house has the financial means to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charged period. Subject to meeting this requirement, monies for the purchase of a house may come from several sources, including savings, a mortgage provided by a financial institution, or a local authority house purchase loan.
The scheme was reviewed in 2021 in line with Programme for Government and Housing for All commitments. The Government approved a number of amendments on foot of the review and these came into effect on 1st February 2022.
The amendments include a reduction in the minimum reckonable income required to be eligible under the scheme from €15,000 to €12,500. This means older tenants, whose only income might be the contributory or non-contributory State pension, will be eligible to buy their homes if they have the financial means to do so. The time an applicant is required to be in receipt of social housing supports to be able to apply under the scheme has also been revised. This has been increased from one to ten years.
Further changes to the scheme are currently being examined as part of the work on the broader social housing reform agenda.
