Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The tenant purchase scheme has been a very effective way for people to purchase their property from local authorities. There have been a number of changes to the scheme and the most recent in February 2022 included that a tenant has to have ten years' tenancy and meet the criteria to qualify on their own for a loan. The problem arises where a person has ten years or more tenancy and gets married. Their partner also has to have ten years to qualify for the scheme. Previously, if a couple got married this rule only applied for a short period. I think it was about a year. In the case I have in mind, a couple had applied in 2021 to purchase their homes but, unfortunately, did not submit enough documents and were not on time.

The new scheme has since kicked in, having started in February 2022. It seems that the primary tenant is being penalised because she got married or is living with a partner or otherwise. They will now have to wait, and in some cases, people will be left waiting for up to ten years or more to purchase their home. The primary tenant is getting older and may not qualify for a loan due to age. That may add up to ten years to her tenancy without the option to purchase, despite having the funds to do so. It seems unfair. This ten-year rule does not make sense. It appears only to penalise the main tenant.

This rule seems to be the effect of a ministerial order and its effect has been to penalise couples living together, causing long delays. Will the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage look at this issue? It is unfair and I call on the Minister to review the scheme and engage with the local authorities, or whoever else needs to be engaged with. I ask him to review the scheme because it does not seem right.

Another issue relates to tenants whose houses were adapted by the local authorities. Those tenants cannot purchase their homes even though they may have spent ten or 20 years living in the home with people with disabilities. It seems as if people with disabilities who qualify for and can get the necessary loans are being discriminated against. It appears that way. I know many local authorities looked at this scheme and had various reasons they did not want to sell off adapted tenancies. People with disabilities have rights under the United Nations Convention on Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. If people are living in a home they want to purchase in circumstances where a young person or the tenant in question has an illness, they should not be excluded. The situation should be reviewed by the Minister. He should consider whether a new scheme could be put in place. It seems there is discrimination. There is a blanket refusal across all the local authorities to sell off adapted houses. That does not seem right. There might be cases in which it could be argued that such houses should not be sold off but circumstances in which a person qualifies and has a genuine case should be considered.

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