Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IN LONDON A new scheme has been introduced which allows people to get onto the property ladder without paying a deposit or getting locked into a mortgage.
The new initiative comes as part of mayor Boris Johnson’s ‘First Steps’ programme and will allow participants to grow a share of ownership in their property outside of the traditional model of buying a home.
For ‘buyers’ of these new homes, monthly payments will go towards shares in their properties rather than rent. When they can afford to, they can increase the share of the property that they own, until they own the home outright.
What about here?
Until quite recently a similar initiative existed in Ireland.
The Shared Ownership Scheme gave people who could not afford to buy their entire property in one go a way onto the property ladder.
Under the rules of the scheme buyers were required to buy up a full share in their house over a thirty-year period.
To avail of the scheme, homeowners had to get approval for part ownership from the local authority for a house suitable to their needs. Those looking to take part in the scheme were required to purchase at least 40% of their home.
Involvement was also subject to rules around income. Single-income households were required to earn less than €40,000 a year, for example.
Households with two incomes were subject to a slightly more complicated criteria. Sitting down? Here goes. They had to:
Multiply the gross income (before tax) of the higher earner in the last income tax year by 2.5. Add the gross income of the other earner in the last income tax year. If the answer was €100,000 or less, you were eligible.
So what happened? And could a similar thing come back?
New rules from the Central Bank on mortgages have made it more difficult for individuals to get onto the property ladder and it seems like the revival of such a scheme could be a big help for a lot of people.
During its lifetime the scheme assisted 6,292 applicants.
On its website, the Department for the Environment says that it was no longer able to run them scheme “due to the reality of market conditions across the country” and the “very significant easing of affordability”.
Reintroduction
In response to a query from TheJournal.ie, the Department of the Environment stated that there is no plan to reintroduce a similar scheme.
Something that is currently in operation is the Tenant Purchase Scheme which came into effect in 2012.
Under it, tenants are able to use the incremental purchase model and enjoy reductions in the price of the property they are purchasing.
However, this scheme is restricted to local authority tenants.
On the benefit of the scheme being applied to local authority tenants, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said:
As for the scheme being too restrictive, most tenants would be renting for a number of years and would be settled. This helps develop the community spirit.
The Social Housing Strategy 2020 will introduce a new tenant purchase scheme to be introduced in the second quarter of this year.
Under the scheme further amendments will be made to the terms for people buying local authority houses or apartments.
While this will provide benefits for some it leaves a large number of people ineligible for assistance.
With the market the way it is, perhaps the reintroduction of the Shared Ownership Scheme could be a very good thing – giving assistance to a wide range of people who otherwise are unable to find a way onto the property ladder.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Comments open ongoing legal proceedings?
He’s been sentenced. It’s a stay of execution, not a court case in the strictest sense of the word.
“The US supreme Court has ordered a new Court hearing”
US not Irish. Nothing said here will have any bearing on legal proceedings in the case as it is outside the jurisdiction. Blather away to your heart’s content
Do they not have the Internet in texas?
Story just posted about a murder in utah, comments closed due to ongoing legal proceedings.
But she’s white!
Comments were closed on a ticket scandal in Rio so they definitely have Internet there.
@Jason McGwire:
Actually, the crime that took place in Utah is an attempted murder. Sadly, the victim might not survive.
Guilt is not in question and there is nobody to be influenced. It’s just a sentencing hearing
So, the fact that he murdered two people in cold blood has nothing to do with him being on death row.
OH no.
Folks just didn’t like the colour of his skin.
Nobody’s saying that.
Literally nobody
Sounds like a crime of passion – difficult to defend domestic violence all right. But. If contemporary cases were sentenced to xx years in prison, and the defender urges that his client should be legally executed for the same crime, you have to question the reasoning. It’s almost as though they were singling him out to be put to death for no reason. Isn’t that arbitrary? I’m not against the death penalty for extreme cases; but he doesn’t seem like a serial killer or a sociopath. A retrial could be the reasonable thing to do here.
A retrial is not necessary as its not the verdict that’s in question, just the sentence
The headline is misleading. The Supreme Court has ruled that he is entitled to go back to a lower court and argue that he should have a new sentencing hearing; it did not order a retrial.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/22/politics/duane-buck-supreme-court-death-row-ruling/
Yeah, that’s what this article says to
have your say