Lotteries to allocate affordable homes

A series of lotteries is likely to be held to allocate the Government's promised 10,000 affordable homes, because of anticipated high demand for the scheme.

The affordable housing scheme, announced earlier this year, is aimed at middle-income first-time buyers who cannot afford a mortgage, rather than individuals on local authority housing waiting lists.

The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Mr Noel Ahern, who is helping to draw up the scheme, said he expected demand for the scheme to far outweigh the supply of houses. While the full details of those eligible for the scheme remain to be worked out, Mr Ahern said they would have to be within a certain income range, and a lottery would be used to allocate the houses.

He said the income range for existing affordable housing initiatives in the Dublin area was around €32,000 for single persons, or €80,000 for a couple.

Ultimately, however, local authorities will decide income limits and eligibility criteria for those applying for affordable houses.

Many local authorities already use lotteries for their smaller affordable housing schemes, while others have adopted a first-come, first-served approach.

The Government has so far released more than 300 acres of State-owned land in counties Dublin, Meath and Kildare for use in the scheme. An announcement featuring further available land is expected before the end of the year.

The land is expected to be sold to developers at below market value on condition that the houses are sold on to buyers identified by the local authority at a pre-agreed price.

A feature of the scheme is that it will not affect the Exchequer or Government funding of local authorities.

It will take, at minimum, three years before lands are identified and the houses are built, Mr Ahern said.

The housing initiative surfaced in talks between the Government and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions over the new partnership programme, Sustaining Progress, earlier this year.

Lands already earmarked for use in the scheme include property owned by the Office of Public Works at Jamestown Road and Infirmary Road, McKee Barracks, Kildare and Gormanston, Co Meath.

Smaller affordable housing schemes have included provisions preventing house-buyers from selling on the properties quickly at market value.

It is expected that local authorities will apply similar rules to this initiative. Fingal County Council said its own affordable housing schemes, which have been running since 1998, have been "extremely successful" in providing housing to people who would have expected to buy a house from their own resources, but who find that they are unable to do so in the current housing market.

However, Mr Dick Brady, senior executive officer with Fingal County Council, said current income limits may need to be reviewed as some people were trapped between inability to get a standard mortgage and being above the local authority income threshold.