Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 November 2016
79. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if a tenant of 30 years of Tipperary County Council can purchase their home from the council with a lump sum which is not a loan and the lump sum is not secured against the property; if not, the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33158/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. Under this Scheme, the tenant is responsible for raising the money to finance the purchase of their home and they can do so from savings, a lump sum or a mortgage loan etc. The tenant must pay the purchase money in full at the time the house purchase is completed. If they can afford it, the tenant can buy the house without a mortgage loan as long as they meet all the eligibility criteria including having sufficient reckonable income to cover the cost of maintaining the property over the longer term.
The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum, having been in receipt of social housing support for at least 1 year and having been allocated a house under a local authority allocation scheme.
In determining reckonable income, the income of the tenants of the house, including adult children that are joint tenants can be included, as can the income of the spouse, civil partner or other partner-cohabitant of a tenant who lives in the house with them.
Reckonable income is calculated as gross income. Income from social welfare payments is included in the reckonable income but only where these payments constitute a secondary source of income.
In order to ensure the sustainability of the scheme, it is essential that an applicant’s income is of a long-term and sustainable nature. This is necessary to ensure that the tenant purchasing the house is in a financial position, as the owner, to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charged period. This ensures compliance with the conditions of the order transferring the ownership of, and responsibility for, the house from the local authority to the tenant.
In line with the commitment in the Programme for a Partnership Government and reaffirmed in Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, it is intended that a review of the Scheme will be undertaken in January 2017 following the first 12 months of operation and any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are considered necessary based on the evidence gathered at that stage will be brought forward.
