Vol. 493 No. 3
323 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the policy, if any, he has on the issue of offering local authority flats for sale; and his views on whether tenants of long standing in flats should have equal access to the opportunity to buy their homes. [15976/98]
A detailed examination of the issues that arise in relation to the sale of local authority flats concluded that no practical arrangement could be made which would be satisfactory to tenant purchasers or local authorities or even to other tenants in a flat complex who would not wish to purchase. The three main reasons why local authority flats would be a bad buy for tenants relate to: the level of service charges that would be necesssary; public liability insurance; and the future saleability of purchased flats.
These matters were outlined in detail in the 1995 policy document Social Housing — The Way Ahead, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library.
Local authorities were, therefore, advised that flats should not be offered for sale under the current tenant purchase scheme, but that authorities should give consideration to the sale of maisonettes, particularly those which do not have common areas, where satisfactory arrangements, not involving the difficulties that arise in the case of flats, could be devised. The difficulties and disadvantages for tenants of purchasing local authority flats which have been clearly identified still apply and there are no proposals to amend the scheme in this respect.
