There are two current schemes for tenants of housing authorities to purchase their homes. The first, the tenant purchase scheme, is provided for in section 90 of the Housing Act, 1966. The second, the incremental purchase scheme in respect of newly-built homes designated by housing authorities for incremental purchase, is provided for under Part 3 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009. The details of the schemes are set out in the legislation and in the associated regulations.
The criteria for a tenant purchasing a home under the tenant purchase scheme include that a tenant must have a period of reckonable tenancy of at least one year's duration. In the case of the 2011 Fixed Term Tenant Purchase Scheme for long-standing tenants, for which applications are now closed, a ten year tenancy period applied. The Housing Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1997 provides that a housing authority may refuse to sell a dwelling to a tenant where the authority considers that the tenant is or has been engaged in anti-social behaviour or that a sale to that tenant would not be in the interest of good estate management. Certain classes of houses, as distinct from tenants, may be excluded from sale under the Regulations and in accordance with the provisions of individual tenant purchase schemes adopted by housing authorities.
Incremental purchase is available in respect of designated houses to eligible existing and prospective tenants. Under the incremental purchase scheme, there is no minimum tenancy period required. However the following criteria are considered—
minimum income requirements set out in the regulations;
the household's history of house purchase;
rent arrears;
anti-social behaviour provisions set out in the 1997 Act mentioned above.
In addition to the above schemes, there is a separate scheme for the purchase of apartments in respect of which different conditions apply.