The Tenant Purchase Scheme is a scheme to let local authority tenants buy their homes.
Tenant Purchase Scheme
Under this scheme, you can apply to Waterford City & County Council to buy your local authority house. If approved, you must continue to live in the house for as long as you own it. You will get a discount on the price of the house based on your income.
The applicant must be in receipt of housing supports for ten (10) years or longer. In the case of joint applicants only one of the two applicants is required to be receipt of housing supports for ten (10) years or longer. For those in receipt of a state pension, they can have an income of €11,000 without requiring a secondary income. This applies to anyone receiving the state pension (contributory and non-contributory), Widow’s / Widower’s pension, Surviving Civil Partner’s pension (contributory & non-contributory), Blind pension and Invalidity pension, which are considered as a primary source of income.
Income from Disability Allowance is also reckonable as a primary source of income.
Anyone under 66 must have a primary income, in addition to Social Welfare, of at least 50% or more of the €11,000, so a minimum of €5,500 from earnings is required. Certain incomes from the Department of Social Protection are not included (see application form for further details).
Applicants will be ineligible if they are, or have been, in rent arrears for more than 12 weeks in the previous three years, unless they enter into a repayment plan and comply with the terms of that plan.
Applicants will be subject to Garda checks in relation to anti-social behaviour.
Process
If the application is approved, a fee of €150 will be requested by the Local Authority to offset the cost of the property valuation. The market value (price) of the property will reflect its existing condition. No repairs will be carried out once the property has been purchased.
Certain types of units are excluded from the scheme as per the Tenant Purchase Scheme Regulations;
- Bungalows in an urban area
- Units designed for elderly people;
- Apartments / duplexes as per the scheme;
- Part V Units;
- Units specifically designed for occupation by travellers, where more than one such house or dwelling is provided on the land concerned;
- Caravan, mobile home or a structure or a thing that is capable of being moved from one place to another (whether by towing or transport on a vehicle);
- Properties scheduled for remedial works or area regeneration
The regulations also provide that the local authority can also exempt certain types of properties for reasons of proper & prudent management of the authority’s housing stock;
The following additional types of property are excluded from the tenant purchase scheme operated by Waterford City and County Council.
- Properties acquired or built in last 5 years;
- Specifically adapted properties and/or bungalows in larger urban areas, including Waterford City, Tramore and Dungarvan;
- Mortgage to rent properties;
- Turnkey properties
