Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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362. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to amend existing eligibility requirements concerning income which is considered assessable for the purposes of the incremental tenant purchase scheme for local authority housing, in order to allow for the inclusion of additional social protection and assistance payments; if he is aware that a large number of tenants are prevented from accessing the scheme by the exclusion of these payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9422/16]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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363. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if applicants will only be deemed eligible under the incremental tenant purchase scheme for local authority housing when they have paid all liabilities in respect of water charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9423/16]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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376. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government why carer's allowance is not recognised as income under the new tenant purchase scheme 2016, as it is not included in determining a tenant's gross income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9644/16]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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382. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the requirement by Donegal County Council to have the payment of water charges as a condition for the tenant purchase scheme; if he agrees with this requirement, given there is no requirement for the payment of other utility bills by the tenant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9699/16]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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397. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government why persons with adequate savings are ineligible to apply under the tenant purchase scheme for local authority houses if they are on a low income or if all their income derives from social protection payments; if he will amend this regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10062/16]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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404. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to consider a case (details supplied) regarding the purchase of a property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10254/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 362, 363, 376, 382, 397 and 404 together.

Provision was made in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 for a new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme for existing local authority houses. Following the necessary preparatory work the new Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having been in receipt of social housing support for a minimum period of one year and having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum.

The terms of the Scheme involve discounts of 40%, 50% or 60% off the purchase price of the house, linked to tenant income. On the sale of a house under the Scheme, the housing authority will place an incremental purchase charge on the house equivalent to the discount granted to the tenant. Generally, the charge withers away over a period of 20, 25 or 30 years depending on the level of discount involved.

The minimum reckonable income for eligibility under the Scheme is determined by the relevant housing authority in accordance with the detailed provisions of the Ministerial Direction issued under Sections 24(3) and (4) of the 2014 Act. In the determination of the minimum reckonable income, housing authorities can include income from a number of different sources and classes, such as from employment, private pensions, maintenance payments and certain social welfare payments, including pensions, where the social welfare payment is secondary to employment income.

In determining reckonable income, the income of the tenants of the house, including adult children that are joint tenants, can be included, as can the income of the spouse, civil partner or other partner/co-habitant of a tenant who lives in the house with them.

A number of income sources, including carer’s allowance and certain other social welfare payments, are disregarded for the purposes of determining reckonable income. In order to ensure the sustainability of the scheme, it is essential that an applicant’s income is of a long-term and sustainable nature. This is necessary to ensure that the tenant purchasing the house is in a financial position, as the owner, to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charged period, in compliance with the conditions of the order transferring the ownership and responsibility of the house from the local authority to the tenant.

The financing of any house sold under the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is a separate matter from the eligibility criteria for the scheme. In order to participate in the scheme, the tenant must, in the first instance, meet the eligibility criteria as set out in the relevant legislation, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum. If the tenant is deemed eligible under the scheme, he or she may fund the purchase of a house from one, or a combination of, own resources or a mortgage provided by a financial institution or a local authority house purchase loan.

Section 48 of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015, which commenced on 1 January 2016, inserts a new section 3A into the Water Services Act 2014, subsection (9) of which provides that a housing authority shall not complete the sale of a dwelling under a tenant purchase scheme until the tenant provides to the authority a certificate from Irish Water confirming that any charge under section 21 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 in respect of that dwelling payable by the tenant has been paid. Therefore, tenants of local authority houses who wish to participate in the scheme must provide the relevant certificate from Irish Water, in order for the sale of the house to be completed.

The consideration of individual applications and the determination of eligibility under the new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is a matter for the local authority concerned, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the 2014 Act and the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015.

The new scheme is in the very early stages of implementation and my Department is monitoring its operation in consultation with housing authorities. In line with the commitment in the new Programme for a Partnership Governmentto make the scheme more attractive for social housing tenants and to raise new funds for housing development, I intend to undertake a review of the scheme following the first 12 months of operation and to bring forward any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are considered necessary based on the evidence gathered at that stage.