Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 322: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views, in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008, on the provision of an extension to 15 or more years of the 3% discount allowed as an incentive to local authority tenants to purchase their homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34137/08]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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To assist local authority tenants purchase their homes, a discount of 3% of the market value of the house is allowed for each year of tenancy, up to a maximum of 30%. In addition to this, a further discount of €3,809 is provided. Thus, a local authority house with a market value of €140,000 would be available for purchase at some €94,200 by a tenant of ten or more years' standing. By any account, this is a generous discount.

The proceeds of the sale of local authority houses to tenants are used to part-fund improvements to, and planned maintenance programmes in, the local authority housing stock. I consider that the terms of the present tenant purchase scheme strike a reasonable balance between the aspirations of certain tenants to own their own homes and the needs of all other local authority tenants. While I have no proposals to amend the financial terms of the current scheme, I will continue to keep them under review.