Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 21 Jun 1994

Vol. 444 No. 1

Written Answers. - Tenant Purchase Scheme.

Paul Connaughton

Ceist:

31 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for the Environment the total number of local authority houses currently occupied by tenants in this country; the total number of tenants who participated in the last tenant purchase scheme; the total number of tenants who qualified for the present tenant purchase scheme; if his attention has been drawn to the problems tenants have with the present scheme in so far as market valuation is concerned; and the plans, if any, he has to make changes to the scheme.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Stagg)

The most recent information available in my Department from local authorities indicates that 93,283 dwellings were let by them at 31 December 1992. At that date, some 32,600 sales had been completed under the 1988 tenant purchase scheme.

All tenants, with the exception of those whose tenancy is less than one year and those in certain limited categories of dwellings — principally those provided for and occupied by elderly persons — may apply to purchase under the present scheme, the administration of which is the responsibility of the relevant local authorities.

Information on activity under the scheme is set out in my Department's Housing Statistics Bulletins, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library. I am satisfied that market value, which was also used under the 1988 scheme, is the fairest and most appropriate means of determining house prices and I am not aware of any general problems in this area. There are no proposals to amend the scheme.