Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 24: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the provision for existing social housing tenants to transfer to housing reserved for incremental purchase applies equally to tenants of local authority apartments and tenants of local authority houses. [36395/08]

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 32: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the minimum and maximum mortgage periods under the incremental purchase scheme. [36406/08]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 33: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if a householder under the incremental purchase scheme will be entitled to re-mortgage the property or any portion of it during the life of the scheme; and if the local authority charge will take precedence over any other charge. [36396/08]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 34: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the proportion of the price paid under the incremental purchase arrangements will be the same for all applicants in a particular scheme at a particular time or if it will be based on the particular financial circumstances of each applicant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36393/08]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the assessment guidelines under the incremental purchase scheme; and the maximum and minimum income for single and joint households and the maximum and minimum percentage of the purchase price to be furnished by the household in each case. [36394/08]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if, under the incremental purchase scheme local authorities will provide mortgages to qualifying households as well as retaining equity in the portion of the property not covered by the household mortgage. [36407/08]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 49: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason Section 36 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008 excludes apartments from the incremental purchase scheme; and if it is his intention to put in place a legislative framework to enable the sale of apartments under the incremental scheme. [36401/08]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 24, 32 to 34, inclusive, 41, 46 and 49 together.

The final terms of the incremental purchase scheme will be determined following the enactment of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2008 and will be informed by some market testing in the interim.

In broad terms the intention is that the scheme will be accessible for those applicants who are eligible for, or are currently in receipt of, social housing support. Those currently in receipt of social housing support include tenants of a local authority, voluntary/co-operative tenants and those being housed under the Rental Accommodation Scheme.

It is envisaged that the incremental purchase scheme will be applied initially to houses and its extension to apartments will be dependent on a framework for the sale of local authority apartments being included in the above legislation.

Subject to the broad terms of the scheme set out in the Bill it is intended that the range of purchase prices required to be provided by the purchaser will be between 40% and 60% of the full cost of the dwelling. Similarly the mortgage periods will vary according to the percentage of the purchase price payable relative to the household's income, but it is envisaged that mortgages will be for between 20 and 30 years.

It is not intended that a separate income threshold would be set for eligibility outside of that used to determine the household's eligibility for social housing support generally. Instead, the ability to purchase through the scheme will be based on the household's ability to afford the mortgage. On that basis, assuming, for example, a 40% stake in a dwelling is bought, it is expected that households with an income of €20,000 to €30,000 would be able to participate.

In relation to mortgages for the scheme, the legislative framework allows for both local authorities and private lending institutions to provide mortgage finance to prospective buyers. In general, where a private lending institution has provided mortgage finance to a purchaser, that mortgage has precedence over other charges on the property. The local authority charge would normally rank next in precedence. The Bill allows that, with the permission of the local authority, a purchaser can remortgage or refinance their property. If this occurs, the Bill provides that the local authority can, in specific circumstances which include refinancing/remortgaging, agree that any such refinancing/remortgaging charge will have priority where it would not normally have done so.