Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he intends to bring forward legislation to allow tenants in voluntary housing associations to be able to avail of tenant purchase as is the case with local authority housing. [42856/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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There is no provision at present in the voluntary housing schemes for the purchase of individual houses by tenants. My Department is currently in consultation with the approved housing body sector regarding the development of an enabling regulatory framework to support the expanded role for the sector as envisaged in the Government’s 2011 Housing Policy Statement. I expect that this framework will provide support and assurance both to the sector itself and to its external partners and will underline its status as a viable and attractive investment opportunity for financial institutions.

In conjunction with the development of this framework, my Department will examine a range of issues around the long-term financing of the sector. How best to use the equity accrued in approved housing body housing stock to, for instance, leverage additional new supply will be considered; the sale of existing stock to tenants is one of a range of options in this regard.