Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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322. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 372 of 9 September 2021, his plans to review the tenant incremental purchase scheme to allow those who were tenants of Part V houses prior to the introduction of the regulations to proceed with the purchase of their homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4260/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. The scheme is governed by the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015. These regulations provide for specified classes of houses to be excluded from sale, including those provided to local authorities under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

The Part V provisions seek to promote social integration and secure mixed tenure, sustainable communities. Accordingly, Part V properties are excluded from the scheme to ensure the original policy goals of the legislation are not eroded over time and the properties remain available for people most in need of social housing support.

In line with commitments in Housing for All, A New Housing Plan for Ireland, I recently introduced changes to the Tenant Purchase Scheme. These included inter alia revising the minimum income criteria for applicants downwards from €15,000 to €12,500, thereby allowing older tenants in particular (whose only income might be the contributory or non-contributory State pension) to buy their homes if they have the means.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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323. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 518 of 19 January 2022, the amount made available in respect of each local authority to bring the 319 unsold affordable housing units fully into use in each local authority’s housing stock; the number of these houses per local authority area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4290/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In 2009 the Department issued guidance to local authorities on the use of unsold affordable properties (USAs) to provide social housing. Whilst the original intention was that these properties would be sold on as affordable homes once demand increased to a level that would stimulate a sale, following the financial crash, developments in the housing market resulted in significantly reduced demand for affordable housing and a build-up of unsold affordable housing units in a number of localauthrity areas.

A data collection exercise in 2020 identified over 2,000 USAs across 19 local authorities with outstanding loans to the Housing Finance Agency (HFA). These units are currently occupied by social housing tenants.

Following discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, €54,918,210 voted capital funding was used in December 2021 to bring 319 of these unsold affordable units fully into local authority stock by repaying the HFA debt on those units. Details of these units are as follows: