Dublin City Council is the first in the country to launch a rent-to-buy scheme in of 91 apartments in Rialto, Glasnevin and Finglas;
Since the slow down in the Irish Boom Tiger, Local Authority affordable housing did not manage to escape the drop in property prices and many councils are now left with a plethora of empty properties on their books. Fine Gael housing spokesman Terence Flanagan said... “The sooner this pilot scheme is rolled out nationwide the better so that these properties can become occupied. We cannot continue to have unoccupied properties, like the 91 properties Dublin City Council which have lay empty for years, while the demand is so high for the need for housing”.
Currently in Dublin there are around 115 houses on the City Council’s affordable housing portfolio, which as we said before 91 will become part of the rent-to-buy scheme; these include; in Prospect Hill in Finglas, Herberton in Rialto and Park View in Poppintree.
So the T & C’s: Who eligible and how to apply?
Will for this scheme priority will go to those already on the council’s affordable housing list, a list that already has 3,000 applicants on it!
For the DCC schemes there T+ C’s look something like this;
- A single person earning at least €25,000 but no more than €55,000 a year qualifies – For a couple, you can earn between €25,000 and €75,000
- You rent at an agreed monthly rent of up to 20% less than the market rate of that area (not only that but the property comes fully-furnished)
- The usual deposit of two months rent is payable on signing the letting agreement
- The purchase price of the property is agreed before you move in. There are pros and cons to this i.e. if house prices rise you will not be affected - however the what if house prices continue to fall? You still have to pay the agreed price if you decide to purchase.
- One of the benefits of the Rent to Buy scheme is that you have three years to decide if they want to buy the property – and if you don’t, you can back out, no strings attached.
- If you do decide to buy the property, 80% of the rent you paid over the 3 years (or shorter term) to the local authority is offset against the purchase price
- The furnishings are included in the price
Not a bad deal!
