Tenant Incremental Purchase Scheme

1. What is the Incremental Purchase Scheme?
2. Who is eligible?
3. What is the purchase price of the house? 
4. What is the price discount?
5. How do I pay for the house?  
6. Is there a charge placed on the property? 
7. Can I sell my house during the charge period? 
8. Further information

What is the Incremental Purchase Scheme? 

As an existing tenant, you may be eligible to buy your home from us at a discount, based on income, provided you meet the eligibility criteria for the Scheme. 

Key points of the new Scheme are: 

• Certain Laois County Council owned houses qualify for the Scheme and they may only be sold to existing tenants. 
• You must provide documented minimum Reckonable Income of €11,000 per annum to qualify. 
• Discounts from the market value (of 40%, 50% or 60%) for purchasers are linked to the reckonable income of the tenants and the spouse, civil partner, cohabitant who lives with them – not to any other criteria. 
• A charge linked to the discount is put on the property. You will have to pay back the value of the charge remaining if the property is sold before the end of the charged period (20, 25 or 30 years respectively). The charge may reduce to nil over the charged period. 
• After a purchase, there are detailed conditions on occupancy of the house and subsequently on any re-sale with the Council having first option to buy back the property during the charged period. 
• On completion of the sale, all responsibility for the repair and maintenance of the property will rest with you, the purchaser.
• You will also be liable for paying the Local Property Tax (LPT). 
• Applicants who are approved for purchase, may provide funds for the purchase from their own resources; by a loan from a private financial institution; or they may apply for a loan from the County Council. 

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Who is eligible?

• The person must be the tenant of the house to be sold by the housing authority and the house must be available for sale under the scheme. 
• The tenant must have been in receipt of social housing supports for a minimum period of 10 years. In the case of a joint tenancy, one of the tenants must be in receipt of social housing supports for a minimum of 10 years 
• The tenant must have a minimum reckonable income of €11,000 per annum 
• A tenant may be disqualified from purchasing a house for a number of different reasons including rent arrears and anti-social behaviour (See full scheme for details) 
• Certain properties may not be purchased under this scheme including but not exclusively the following: 
• Houses designed for occupation by elderly persons, 
• Group traveller housing, 
• Part V dwellings provided in private estates, 
• Other properties the Council do not wish to include in the scheme 

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What is the purchase price of the house?

The purchase price of a house is the market value of the house for the purposes of calculating the applicable discount and will be determined by Laois County Council. 

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What is the price discount?

The housing authority will give the tenant a discount of 60%, 50% or 40% off the purchase price of the house, depending on reckonable tenant income: 

• A discount of 60% off the purchase price applies where reckonable tenant income is between €15,000 and €20,000; 
• A discount of 50% off the purchase price applies where reckonable tenant income is between €20,001 and €29,999; 
• A discount of 40% off the purchase price applies where reckonable income is equal to or greater than €30,000. 

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How do I pay for the house?

• The tenant is not required to pay a deposit to the housing authority as part of the tenant purchase process; 
• The tenant must pay the discounted purchase price of the house to the housing authority from one, or a combination, of the tenant’s own resources and/or a local authority home loan. 
• Private financial institutions may also provide loan finance to tenant purchasers under the scheme. 

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Is there a charge placed on the property?

Laois County Council will place a charge on your house called an ‘incremental purchase charge’. This charge will be equal to the discount you get on the price of the house.

The charge will remain in place for 20, 25 or 30 years (depending on the discount given).

Each year, the local authority will reduce the charge by 2%. At the end of the 20, 25 or 30 years, the charge will be zero as long as you obey the terms and conditions of the scheme.

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Can I sell my house during the charge period?

• The Housing Authority will have first refusal on buy-back of tenant purchased houses resold during the charging period, in which case the resale price is the current market value of the house less the value of the outstanding charge on the property. 
• If the house is resold within 5 years of purchase the tenant purchaser must pay the current value of the total charge back to the Council. If later, it will be the current value of the outstanding charge. 

 Related Documents

Further information

For further information please call us on 057 866 4000