(As amended 1st February 2022)
From 1st January 2016 existing tenants of Tipperary County Council have an opportunity to purchase their homes through an Incremental Purchase Scheme introduced under Part 3 of Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014
There are a number of pre-requisites which households must meet including:
• The period of time tenants will be required to be in receipt of social housing support to be considered eligible under the scheme has changed from 1 year to 10 consecutive years. In the case of joint tenancies, both tenants must be in receipt of social housing support for at least 10 years before becoming eligible to apply
• The State pension (contributory and non-contributory) may now be considered as a primary source of income e.g. tenants whose only income might be the contributory or non-contributory State pension are now eligible to buy their homes if they have the financial means to do so
• The minimum income required for an applicant(s) to be eligible to apply under the scheme has been revised from €15,000 to €12,500 per annum. (At least 50%, or €6,251, of which must come from employment or the State pension).
• Applicants must not have previously purchased a property under any previous Tenant Purchase Scheme
• Applicants must have a satisfactory rent record, and all charges up to date.
• Houses must be available for sale and not restricted as in past schemes [i.e. not houses specifically reserved for elderly, transitional accommodation, traveller accommodation, Part V properties, in interests of estate management etc]
For income between €12,500 and €20,000 tenant purchase discount will be 60% of Purchase price and an Incremental Purchase Charge of 60% will apply to the house and be reduced by 2% per annum over 30 years
For income between €20,001 and €29,999 tenant purchase discount will be 50% of Purchase price and an Incremental Purchase Charge of 50% will apply to the house and be reduced by 2% per annum over 25 years
For income over €30,000 tenant purchase discount will be 40% of Purchase price and an Incremental Purchase Charge of 40% will apply to the house and be reduced by 2% per annum over 20 years