Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
464. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason tenants who have the resources to buy out their local authority house are not facilitated to do so irrespective of income under the present tenant purchase incremental scheme; whether he intends on changing the rules of the scheme to facilitate this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35045/23]
View answerThe Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the scheme.
To be eligible, applicants must meet certain criteria, including a minimum annual reckonable income of €12,500. In determining a tenant’s minimum annual reckonable income, local authorities can include incomes from employment, private pensions, the contributory and non-contributory State pensions and certain social protection payments, where the social protection payment is secondary to income from employment or a pension. The minimum income requirement has a dual purpose. It ensures the scheme remains sustainable and the tenant purchasing the house has the financial means to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charging period.
That said, changes in relation to reckonable income are being considered by my Department, together with other potential changes to the scheme, as part of the work on the broader social housing reform agenda.
