Written answers

Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Department of Environment, Community and Local Government

Tenant Purchase Scheme Eligibility

Photo of Frank O'RourkeFrank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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44. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to expand the tenant purchase scheme to other buyers, given that it is restricted to local authority tenants with an income in excess of €15,000 per year, which excludes other potential participants; to include the purchase of apartments under the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11597/16]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The new Tenant Incremental Purchase 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 a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum. 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.

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 of, and responsibility for, the house from the local authority to the tenant.

I intend to undertake a review of the scheme following the first 12 months of operation. I will bring forward any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are considered necessary based on the evidence gathered at that stage.

A separate scheme for the tenant purchase of local authority apartments came into operation on 1 January 2012.

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