Máire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Chris Andrews for raising this matter which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, urban renewal and developing areas, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I am happy to set out for the information of the House, the work being undertaken to extend the opportunity for home ownership to more social housing tenants in a way that protects the interests of tenant purchasers, continuing tenants and local authorities alike.

The Government announced its intention of introducing a scheme for the sale of local authority apartments under certain conditions in Housing Policy Framework — Building Sustainable Communities, published in December 2005. This commitment was reiterated in Delivering Homes. Sustaining Communities, a statement on housing policy published in February 2007. Furthermore, the Agreed Programme for Government published in June 2007 indicated that the Government will "expand the paths to home ownership to assist the maximum number of people in gaining a stake in their own home".

Proposals for a tenant purchase scheme for apartments were included in the General Scheme of the Social Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, prepared by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and approved by Government for drafting in December 2006. These proposals take account of the difficulties experienced with previous attempts to introduce such a scheme in areas such as the management of apartment complexes, insurance, the cost of maintenance and the transfer of legal title. They also reflect consideration of proposals submitted by Dublin City Council in 2004 for selling its apartments to tenants.

The proposals are based on the long-standing arrangements in the private sector for the ownership and management of multi-unit residential developments. The transition from a rented social housing apartment complex to a mixed tenure of privately-owned and social-rented accommodation adds an extra dimension to the legal and practical problems that can arise in private apartment complexes. In conjunction with the Attorney General's office, progress is being made in identifying and dealing with the complex issues involved.

The tenant purchase of apartments is one of a range of reform measures included in the Bill, which is scheduled for publication in the current parliamentary session. The new legislation will give effect to the programme of social housing reforms outlined in Delivering Homes. Sustaining Communities, which is aimed at improving services and their delivery. The reform programme includes new provisions on the assessment of social housing needs, updating local authority powers to deal with anti-social behaviour, expanding and providing a more developed legislative basis for the rental accommodation scheme and a statutory basis for housing action plans. As well as updating and expanding the existing tenant purchase path to home ownership for social housing tenants, the Bill will provide for a new incremental purchase scheme whereby households can start acquiring, by degrees, ownership of certain new local authority houses from their first day of occupation.

The Minister of State, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, is looking forward to a thorough examination in this House of all the proposals in the Bill, which will be recognised as a major contribution to reform of the social housing sector.

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