Vol. 533 No. 3
234 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will give tenants of respond houses the opportunity to purchase their homes similar to the purchase scheme available to local authority tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8922/01]
I assume the Deputy is referring to housing provided by voluntary housing bodies such as Respond! with funding from my Department's voluntary housing rental subsidy and capital assistance schemes. There is, advisedly, no provision in the voluntary housing schemes for the purchase of individual houses by tenants. A tenant purchase scheme is not desirable at this stage of the development of the voluntary housing sector in this country as the sale of individual housing units 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 houses of more than one year's duration who wish to become owner-occupiers may, on surrendering their house to the approved body, qualify for the following benefits: special mortgage allowance of £9,000 over five years to assist with mortgage repayments; the shared ownership scheme without having to satisfy the income eligibility criteria; improvement works in lieu scheme in respect of the dwelling they are acquiring; low cost housing sites scheme, and exemption from the income limit for local authority housing loans. Full details of these options are available from local authorities.
