Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

98. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will put a fair and equitable tenant purchase scheme in place to cater for persons who want to buy out their houses especially the elderly who have been renting for 30 years or more and those in rural cottages built in family owned land; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23012/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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 one year.

A review of the first 12 months of the Scheme’s operation has been undertaken. In addition, the Programme for Government commits to maintaining the right of social housing tenants to purchase their own home with some changes to eligibility. The review and the commitments in the Programme for Government are being examined as part of the work on the broader social housing reform agenda. I expect to be in a position to finalise changes to the Scheme once the work on these reform measures is complete.