Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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291. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will amend the conditions attached to the tenant purchase scheme whereby a tenant that has earned a discount as a result of rent paid to the council over the years and avails of the scheme will have a clawback imposed if the property is sold within the subsequent 30 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6052/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The 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 and having been in receipt of social housing support for at least 1 year.

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. Incremental purchase protects the State’s investment in the sale of the house to the tenant by giving the housing authority a share of any profits made on the resale of the house within a reasonable period after purchase.

In line with the commitment given in Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, a review of all aspects of the first 12 months of the scheme’s operation is currently being undertaken by my Department. Details of how to get involved in the public consultation process which will inform this review can be found on my Department’s website at this link: .

Any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are considered necessary based on the evidence gathered at that stage will be brought forward.

I expect this review to be completed by the end of Quarter 1 of 2017.