Hi syd the beat,
YOU ARE SO LUCKY! You can get a huge discount.
As far as I know council tenants can get 3% off for each year they have been a tenant up to a maximum of 10 years.
So if you have been a council tenant for 10 years you could get 30% of the market value of the house.
You might not need to go down the shared ownership or affordable housing route.
As you have an automatic entitlement to a discount you may get a mortgage from bank or an annuity loan from council for full value.
So unfair that only council tenants can avail of this. I'm so jealous haven't a hope in hell of getting social housing so will never benefit from this discount.
I do think that there is a clawback stipulation like affordable housing. In that you must stay in house for 10 years or forfeit your discount. Not 100% sure thou!
check out dept of environ website http://www.environ.ie (www.environ.ie) for more information.
Tenant Purchase Scheme
Tenants of a local authority house for at least one year may apply to the relevant local authority to purchase it either outright or by way of shared ownership. The price of the house will be its market value, as determined by the local authority, in its existing state of repair and condition, less discounts. The structural condition of the house is taken into account and any increase in the market value due to improvements made to the house by the tenant will be disregarded in calculating the price. The discount is 3% of the value of the house for each year of tenancy of a local authority house (up to a maximum of 10 years), plus €3,809.