Review of the tenant purchase scheme

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government when the review of the tenant purchase scheme will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

The Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015 set a commencement date of 1 January 2016 for the introduction of the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme 2016.
In relation to Galway City, the number of homes sold under the current scheme in 2017 was 8 and a further 9 homes were sold in 2018.   In the case of Galway County, the number of homes sold under the scheme in 2017 was 11, while 9 homes were sold under the scheme in 2018. No homes were sold in Galway City or County under the scheme in 2016.  
In relation to the loans accessed and their value, it should be noted that the financing of a house sold under the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is a separate matter to a tenant being deemed eligible under the scheme.  If the tenant is deemed eligible, he or she may fund the purchase of a house from one, or a combination, of his or her own resources or a mortgage provided by a financial institution or a local authority house purchase loan. My Department does not hold information on local authority loans accessed specifically for tenant purchase.
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 (Incremental) Scheme has been completed and a full report has been prepared setting out findings and recommendations.
It is intended that a comprehensive package of social housing reform measures will be brought to Government in the near future and the relevant recommendations made in the review of the Tenant Purchase Scheme will be progressed as part of that process.  The publication of the review will also be addressed in that context.