Has the market decline affected you eligability for AF Home?

S

southerncity

Guest
Hi All,
just wondering if anyone has had the misfortune of this scenario?

i was lucky enough to get a place in dundrum after an open viewing (which is heart wrenching stuff) once the deposit is down you meet with the council.
I have been on the list since 2004 so thought finally i will be a home owner, 24 hours before i am due to go in with builders to snag the place they tell me that with market prices declining my current salary is too high for me to qualify and therefor the apartment will not be offered to me and i am to be removed from the scheme?
This i am told is common at the moment and they have had to tell many people, in my case it was through DLRCC and i dont mind saying they should have checked my status a little earlier than puting me through the heartache,
has anyone else come across this??
 
Hey there,

thats a bit crappy of DLRCC to do that to you after all that time on the list waiting. By any chance do you know what AH Scheme was the place in Dundrum being offered to you under. Depending on the scheme it was purchased / accquired under by the council will determine what the income limits are.
 
Are fingal co co not advertising at the moment that people are eligible to buy an afforable home as long as they don't earn over €60,000 per year which I believe was always the critera. I didn't think the income criteria was set by the council but was a standard across the afforable housing scheme!!
 
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Seems as a single occupant you can earn up to €40,000 to be eligible

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Sorry to hear that Southerncity, how disappointing.
I'm surprised that they are turning you away given that they can't shift the properties they have.

Could you try going back to them with the following:

- you qualified at the time you applied and since you were given a place on the list you held off buying elsewhere because you knew you'd be offered something. They've had places built and ready to go for over a year and haven't offered them to anyone. Their delay has cost you.

-can you double check on your nett salary? With tax increases you take home pay has decreased. Isn't AH supposed to be based on your nett salary?

-on the other hand if your salary is over could you not afford to buy privately now? Their AH prices aren't that much lower than the MVs at the moment.

Try negotiating more with the CC. There are empty apts around me in Stepaside that they can't shift. Doesn't make sense.
 

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown always had slightly lower salary limits than the other councils. Given that people on those salaries now can't get mortgages I think they should be able to use a bit of discretion.
 
Thanks for all the comments folks, unfortunately, a once annual bonus put me over the threshold and as such i am removed from the list, there is nothing i can do about this, in a nutshell i have not been able to save for a deposit as cost of living here is insane, and now after waiting 5 years i am taken off the list just like that so i guess i am not meant to buy in ireland,
 
I really think that's a load of plop. I know someone who was refused because their salary was too low and they sent lots of letters and eventually got their place. I think my salary was probably just a bit over.

Another criteria I'd heard used was that if 2 banks wouldn't give you a mortgage for the MV you should qualify. I'd try BOI and AIB and go back to the council. They have discretion, they should use it.
 
would you consider going to the papers about it? Or contacting a TD, i think that is terrible, you were at your final stages (snag list) and they should have pulled you before this, making it their error. I would 100% fight this and not let them think this is ok.
 
Hi,
Thats absolutely disgraceful!!!!!!!

Have you clarified that it's on last years income you're assessed? I know with DCC it's based on last years as when I initially applied they told me I was over the limit and when I reminded them of the last years income ruling it was a case of "Oh yeah, sorry about that! Well if you're not picked out this year you'll be over the limit for any draws next year" Did they not check you're income at the point of offering you the property?

As Helen123 has said I'd go to your local TD.....it's a disgrace the way the AH scheme is handled!
 
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