Éamon Ó Cuív demands review of Tenant Purchase Scheme
Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív criticised the tenant purchase incremental scheme 2016 as a total failure and urged immediate publication of the promised review. He said very few houses are being purchased under the scheme and challenged delays in delivering the report.
Main complaint
Deputy Ó Cuív described the tenant purchase incremental scheme 2016 as a "total failure", arguing that very few properties have been sold and that potential buyers are prevented from purchasing even when they can pay the full price.
Regulations and eligibility
The minister responding outlined that the scheme is based on the housing sale of local authority houses regulations 2015. Eligibility requirements cited include a minimum reckonable income of £15,000 per annum and having been in receipt of social housing support for at least one year.
Government review and response
The minister said a review of the first 12 months of the tenant purchase scheme has been finalised and a full report prepared, including examination of the minimum income requirement. The report will be included in a comprehensive package of social housing reform measures to be brought to Government and will be published thereafter.
Current status and usage of the scheme
Until reforms are completed the 2016 scheme remains open, the minister said, and is being used by some tenants. He acknowledged numbers are lower than in previous years but described the scheme as relatively generous and in active use by eligible tenants.
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Minister, the tenant purchase incremental scheme 2016 is a total failure with a very very small number of houses being purchased and houses even cannot be purchased where somebody could go in and put the total purchase price down on the table. We have been promised time and time again a review of this scheme. When are we going to get it? Because we keep getting the same answer soon, but it seems that there is a new dictionary definition to soon, which means never. OK, and I understand, Minister English, you are grouping this with 49 and 8, is that correct? 45, 49, 91. I think it is the same question, isn't it? Yeah. Again, thanks to the Deputy for raising the issue again. I know we have had quite a lot of discussion about this over the last couple of years as well. I have been talking to some of your colleagues about it too, from the Council level and other parties that are very interested in this issue as well. The housing sale of local authority houses regulations 2015 provide the basis of the tenant incremental purchase scheme for existing local authority houses. The scheme is open to eligible tenants, including giant 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. In line with the commitment given in the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan on housing and homelessness, a review of the operation of the first 12 months of the tenant purchase scheme has been finalised and a full report has been prepared setting out findings and recommendations. This has included an examination of the minimum income requirements of the scheme, which is probably the biggest issue that is raised here and at all the different Council meetings that Minister Murphy and I will attend as well. What is intended now is that a comprehensive package of social housing reform measures will be brought to Government in the near future. and the review of the tenant purchase scheme will be included in that package, with the report to be published thereafter as well. Until such time as these reforms are completed, the 2016 scheme remains open and has been fully utilised. It is quite a generous scheme too and it does suit many people as well. While you can argue that the numbers are less than might have been there in previous years, the scheme is probably a more generous scheme that would have been there in previous years as well. It remains open and people are actively using it at this moment in time as well. Thank you very much. That so much. Well, let's just continue…
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