Vol. 506 No. 5
186 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the tenants of the housing co-operative scheme at Castlegrange Heights, Swords, County Dublin, are not entitled to apply for a tenant purchase scheme; and if this anomaly will be rectified in view of the fact that it is Government policy to encourage tenants to purchase their homes. [15805/99]
The housing scheme at Castlegrange Heights, Swords, County Dublin was provided by the National Association of Building Co-operatives, NABCo, under my Department's rental subsidy scheme. The residents of this estate are not local authority tenants.
The rental subsidy scheme does not provide for the purchase of houses by the tenants. This issue was carefully considered and it was found that a tenant purchase scheme for rental subsidy housing would not be feasible as the sale of individual houses would undermine the capacity and resources of voluntary housing bodies to manage and maintain their estates and continue to provide further housing projects to meet pressing needs.
Residents of rental subsidy scheme houses of more than one year's duration who wish to become owner-occupiers may, however, on surrendering their house to the approved body, qualify for the following benefits available to local authority tenants surrendering their houses to the authority; special mortgage allowance of £4,500 over five years to assist with mortgage repayments; the shared ownership system without having to satisfy the income eligibility criteria; improvement works-in-lieu; affordable housing sites; exemption from the income limit for local authority housing loans; the affordable housing scheme without having to satisfy the income eligibility criteria.
Full details of these options are available from local authorities who are responsible for administering the rental subsidy scheme in their areas.
