Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have not had a debate in the House for some time on the issue of local authority housing and its future. We need a discussion on this issue. Many people whose economic circumstances have changed would be prepared to purchase their houses from the local authority, but there is no provision in place to allow them to do so. It is important that people be given that opportunity. They have put time and effort into improving the houses for which they are paying rent and would like to hold onto them. They would like to continue to live in the same areas because they are part of their communities. They should be given the opportunity to purchase their homes. We need a discussion on this and it would be helpful if the Minister came to the House to deal with the issue and inform us whether a programme will be introduced over the next 12 months that will allow for purchase. Economic circumstances have changed for some people and they would have the ability to purchase a houses and service a mortgage. Some people have sufficient money that they do not to need to borrow money to acquire their homes.

We also need to look at the issue of first-time buyers and the requirement for a 20% deposit. A number of years ago, the system did not require people to have any deposit to acquire a property, and they came through that system quite successfully. I am not talking about 110% or 100% mortgages, but about a system in which people surrendered local authority houses and bought their own properties privately. I do not agree with how that system operated, but people were able to buy property without a substantial deposit and were able to service the loans they got. We need to look at what has happened in the past and plan for the future. We have not had that debate here yet.