Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

The Senator probably read recently that I have signed regulations regarding the private rented sector and the elimination of the bed-sit as we know it but this legislation is concerned with the sale of local authority apartments, which is a different issue. For information purposes, on the timeframe I can tell the Senator that we are allowing a four-year lead-in for structural works and major alterations that have to be made in that area.

Regarding the issue we are dealing with in this legislation, efforts were made in the 1980s and the 1990s to introduce tenant purchase of local authority apartments and they were thwarted by difficulties associated with the scheme. We are now working on a model for the sale of apartments to tenants that addresses those difficulties. The model is based on the long-standing arrangement in the private sector for the ownership and management of multi-unit residential developments.

The transition from a rented social housing complex to a mixed tenure of privately owned and socially rented accommodation adds an extra dimension to the legal and practical problems that can arise. Any model leading to a viable scheme for the tenant purchase of apartments must address the following issues: the need to establish fair, equitable and proportionate arrangements to give tenant purchasers and the local authority advice on the management of the apartment complex; the role of a management company representative of all apartment owners, including the local authority, in managing and maintaining the common areas and services in the complex; the need for the tenant purchasers to contribute through service charges towards the ongoing maintenance of common areas and services; arrangements for sharing of costs of insurance covering the entire complex; and the need to create a reserve fund to pay for major improvement works required into the future. That is the type of scheme on which we are working. We have not completed our deliberations on that but I am determined to bring in a scheme for the sale of local authority apartments.