Councillors at this month’s meeting of Tipperary County Council were briefed on new proposals for affordable housing options in the county.
A presentation on the Affordable Housing Fund outlined the proposals to make housing accessible for all those who wish to either buy or rent.
The Shared Equity scheme would aim to sell new build homes to buyers who earn up to €46,000 a year at a discounted rate rather than the full market value to help get more people on the property ladder.
However, this scheme would be subject to Tipperary gaining access to the Affordable Housing Fund.
The scheme was broadly welcomed by councillors at the meeting, but there were questions raised about the income thresholds for would-be applicants.
Fianna Fail Councillor Kieran Bourke said that the number of children someone has should factor into the eligibility criteria and outlined the story of a constituent of his who has 5 kids and gets over €60,000 a year in state supports alone, but who still can’t afford a house. The criteria for this proposed scheme would put this constituent over the threshold for an affordable house.
Cllr Pat English was also critical of the income thresholds saying they were too low for a household that has two people working.
On the back of this, Fine Gael Cllr Marie Murphy said that the income limits for social housing should be raised also, giving the example of someone on minimum wage who works 40 hours a week and does two hours of overtime a week, which would put them over the upper limit for social housing which is just over €23,000 a year.
The Executive said he would take councillors concerns back to the Department of Housing.
