Affordable Housing Act 2021

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title, collective citation and commencement

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Affordable Housing Act 2021.

(2) The Housing Acts 1966 to 2019, sections 15, 85 and 87 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 and this Act may be cited together as the Housing Acts 1966 to 2021 and shall be construed together as one Act.

(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

2. Interpretation

2. In this Act—

“Act of 1992” means the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992;

“Act of 2000” means the Planning and Development Act 2000;

“Act of 2002” means the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002;

“Act of 2009” means the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009;

“approved housing body” means a body standing approved of for the purposes of section 6 of the Act of 1992;

“Minister” means the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage;

“Part V agreement” means an agreement under section 96(2) of Part V of the Act of 2000 for the provision of dwellings which constitute housing referred to in section 94(4)(a) of that Act;

“prescribe” means prescribe by regulations.

3. Regulations

3. (1) The Minister may make regulations in relation to any matter referred to in this Act (other than in sections 6(4)(b) and 19 (3) (c) (ii)) as prescribed or to be prescribed or to be the subject of regulations, including those matters referred to in section 23, or for the purpose of enabling any of its provisions to have full effect.

(2) Regulations made under this Act may—

(a) contain such incidental, supplementary, consequential or transitional provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary for the purposes of the regulations, and

(b) may be expressed to apply either generally or to specified housing authorities or areas or to housing authorities, areas, dwellings, tenancies, persons, households, or any other matter of a specified class or classes, denoted by reference to such matters to which the provision or provisions of this Act under which the regulations are made relate, as the Minister considers appropriate, and different provisions of such regulations may be expressed to apply in relation to different housing authorities or areas or different classes of housing authorities, areas, dwellings, tenancies, persons, households or other matters.

(3) Every regulation or order (other than an order under section 1(3)) under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it has been made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

PART 2 Affordable Dwelling Purchase Arrangements

4. Interpretation (Part 2)

4. In this Part—

“abandoned”, in relation to an affordable dwelling, means that the affordable dwelling is no longer the normal residence of the homeowner or any member of the homeowner’s household;

“affordable dwelling” has the meaning given to it by section 5;

“affordable dwelling contribution” has the meaning given to it by section 12(2);

“affordable dwelling equity” has the meaning given to it by section 12(5);

“affordable dwelling purchase arrangement” has the meaning given to it by section 12(6);

“applicant” means a person who applies to purchase an affordable dwelling on his or her own or 2 or more persons who apply to purchase an affordable dwelling together;

“Conveyancing Act” means the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009;

“direct sales agreement” has the meaning given to it by section 7;

“dwelling” includes any building or part of a building occupied or intended for occupation as a normal place of residence and includes any out-office, yard, garden or other land and any easements, rights and privileges appurtenant thereto or usually enjoyed therewith and includes a house, flat, apartment or maisonette;

“eligible applicant” means an applicant assessed by a housing authority under section 10 as being eligible for an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement;

“homeowner”, in relation to an affordable dwelling, means an eligible applicant who has purchased an affordable dwelling under an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement and includes the successors and assigns of the homeowner;

“household” means a person who lives alone or 2 or more persons who, in the opinion of the housing authority concerned, have a reasonable requirement to live together;

“Housing Acts” means the Housing Acts 1966 to 2019;

“long stop date” has the meaning given to it by section 12(7)(f);

“market value” has the meaning given to it by section 14;

“open market dwelling” has the meaning given to it by section 8;

“public private partnership arrangement” has the same meaning as in section 3 of the State Authorities (Public Private Partnership Arrangements) Act 2002;

“realisation event” has the meaning given to it by section 18;

“realisation notice” has the meaning given to it by section 18;

“redemption payment” has the meaning given to it by section 16;

“scheme of priority” has the meaning given to it by section 11;

“valuation mechanism” has the meaning given to it by section 14.

5. Application of Part 2

5. This Part applies to each of the following dwellings (in this Part referred to as an “affordable dwelling”):

(a) a dwelling made available by a housing authority under section 6;

(b) a dwelling to which a Part V agreement applies that is being made available for sale;

(c) an open market dwelling.

6. Provision of dwellings by housing authorities

6. (1) A housing authority may make dwellings available for the purpose of sale to eligible applicants under affordable dwelling purchase arrangements and may, in accordance with the Housing Acts and regulations made under any of those Acts, acquire, build or cause to be built, or otherwise provide or facilitate the provision of, dwellings for that purpose.

(2) A housing authority may, for the purposes of subsection (1), enter into—

(a) arrangements with an approved housing body,

(b) arrangements with a community-led housing organisation, a housing co-operative or a community land trust,

(c) arrangements with the Land Development Agency, and

(d) public private partnership arrangements.

(3) The Minister may prescribe minimum requirements in relation to governance, previous experience, financial management and financial reporting to be met by a body or a class of bodies referred to in subsection (2)(b) before a housing authority may enter into an arrangement with such a body for the purposes of subsection (1).

(4) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, pay, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, a grant towards the cost of making dwellings available under this section to the following:

(a) a housing authority, in respect of dwellings made available by the authority or provided by an approved housing body or other person on behalf of the authority;

(b) such other body, established by or under statute, as the Minister may prescribe by order for the purposes of this section whose functions include the provision of services to a housing authority in relation to the acquisition of dwellings.

(5) In performing its functions under subsection (1), a housing authority shall have regard to the need to—

(a) counteract segregation in housing between persons of different social backgrounds, and support the long-term sustainability of diverse communities, including the inter-generational sustainability of urban communities, and

(b) ensure that a mixture of dwelling types and sizes is provided to reasonably match the requirements of eligible applicants.

(6) In performing its functions under subsection (1), a housing authority shall have regard to its housing services plan.

(7) In this section, “housing services plan” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2009.

7. Direct sales agreement

7. (1) In this section, “direct sales developer” means each of the following:

(a) a person with whom a housing authority has a contract for the provision of dwellings for the purposes of section 6;

(b) a person with whom a housing authority has entered into arrangements pursuant to paragraph (a) or (c) of subsection (2) of section 6 for the purposes of that section;

(c) a public private partnership with whom a housing authority has entered into an arrangement under paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 6 for the purposes of that section;

(d) a person with whom a planning authority has entered into a Part V agreement.

(2) A housing authority, pursuant to its functions under section 6, or a planning authority, pursuant to its functions under Part V of the Act of 2000, may enter into an agreement (in this section referred to as a “direct sales agreement”) with a direct sales developer for the direct sale, in accordance with this Part, of the dwellings specified in the agreement to eligible applicants nominated by the housing authority in accordance with a scheme of priority.

(3) A direct sales agreement shall provide that the direct sales developer may carry out any necessary transactions in relation to the direct sale, in accordance with this Part, of the dwellings specified in the agreement to eligible applicants, subject to the terms and conditions specified in subsection (4).

(4) The terms and conditions referred to in subsection (3) —

(a) shall—

(i) require that the dwellings specified in the agreement be sold directly to eligible applicants nominated by the housing authority in accordance with a scheme of priority,

(ii) specify, or make provision for, the terms and conditions (including as to price) on which the dwellings specified in the agreement shall be sold to eligible applicants nominated by the housing authority,

(iii) require that the direct sale not be completed until the eligible applicant has entered into an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement with the housing authority,

(iv) include terms and conditions relating to—

(I) arrangements for the completion of sales,

(II) notification of sales to the housing authority, and

(III) any other matters relating to the sale of the dwellings specified in the agreement to eligible applicants,

and

(b) may include such other terms and conditions relating to the transactions referred to in subsection (3) as may be prescribed for the purposes of affordable dwelling purchase arrangements.

(5) Where the total amount due to a person under a direct sales agreement is less than the amount due to such person under a contract or arrangement referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1), the amount of any such difference shall be paid by the housing authority to that person.

(6) Where the total amount due to a person under a direct sales agreement is greater than the amount due to such person under a contract or arrangement referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1), the amount of any such difference shall be paid by that person to the housing authority.

(7) Where the total amount due under a direct sales agreement to a person referred to in subsection (1)(d) is less than the amount payable to such person under the Part V agreement in respect of the dwellings specified in the direct sales agreement, the amount of any such difference shall be paid by the housing authority to that person.

(8) Where the total amount due under a direct sales agreement to a person referred to in subsection (1)(d) is greater than the amount payable to such person under the Part V agreement in respect of the dwellings specified in the direct sales agreement, the amount of any such difference shall be paid by that person to the housing authority.

8. Open market dwelling

8. A housing authority may, subject to the Housing Acts, and regulations made under any of those Acts, provide financial assistance to an eligible applicant to purchase a dwelling (in this Part referred to as an “open market dwelling”) under an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement, subject to the dwelling being—

(a) available for purchase in the State, and

(b) of a class of dwelling prescribed for the purpose of this section.

9. Notification of and applications for affordable dwelling purchase arrangements

9. (1) A housing authority shall, before making dwellings available for the purpose of sale to eligible applicants under an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement, or providing financial assistance under section 8, notify the public in accordance with subsection (2).

(2) Notification under this section shall be in such manner and form as the Minister may prescribe.

(3) Where a housing authority notifies the public under this section that it intends to make dwellings available for the purpose of sale to eligible applicants under an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement or to provide financial assistance under section 8 an applicant may apply to the housing authority to purchase a dwelling under the arrangement or to receive such assistance.

(4) An application referred to in subsection (3) shall be in such manner and form as the Minister may prescribe.

(5) Where a person is—

(a) married,

(b) in a civil partnership, or

(c) in an intimate and committed relationship with a partner with whom he or she intends to reside in the affordable dwelling,

he or she may not apply to a housing authority under this section to purchase an affordable dwelling under an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement on his own or her own but shall make any such application together with his or her spouse, civil partner or partner, as the case may be.

(6) Regulations under subsection (4) may in particular provide for—

(a) the time periods during which an application may be made,

(b) the information and any documents required to accompany an application.

10. Assessment of eligibility for affordable dwelling purchase arrangement

10. (1) Where an application is made to a housing authority under section 9 to purchase an affordable dwelling under an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement (referred to in this section as an “application”), the housing authority shall carry out an assessment of the applicant’s eligibility for the affordable dwelling purchase arrangement, in accordance with this section and any regulations made under this Part, by reference to the criteria set out in subsection (2).

(2) An applicant shall only be eligible for an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement if—

(a) the combined financial means of all of the persons making the application, determined in accordance with regulations made by the Minister under subsection (7), are within the parameters prescribed in such regulations,

(b) subject to subsections (3), (5) and (6), none of the persons making the application has previously purchased or built a dwelling in the State for his or her occupation,

(c) subject to subsection (6), none of the persons making the application owns, or is beneficially entitled to an estate or interest in, any dwelling in the State or elsewhere, and

(d) each of the persons making the application has a right to reside in the State, to be demonstrated in such manner as the Minister may prescribe.

(3) Where—

(a) any of the persons making an application previously purchased or built a dwelling in the State, for his or her occupation, together with a spouse, a civil partner or a person with whom he or she was in an intimate and committed relationship,

(b) the marriage, civil partnership or relationship concerned has ended, and

(c) the person is now applying to purchase a dwelling on his or her own or with a different person,

F4[the previous purchase or building of the dwelling concerned, or the previous purchase or building of any other dwelling in the State,] shall not render the applicant ineligible for an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) a marriage is deemed to have ended when it is the subject of a decree of judicial separation, divorce or nullity and a civil partnership is deemed to have ended when it is the subject of a decree of dissolution or nullity.

(5) Where any of the persons making an application previously purchased or built a dwelling in the State for his or her occupation but that person demonstrates, in such manner as the Minister may prescribe, that he or she has sold, or has been divested of, that dwelling as part of a personal insolvency or bankruptcy arrangement or proceedings or other legal process consequent upon insolvency, then F4[the previous purchase or building of the dwelling concerned, or the previous purchase or building of any other dwelling in the State,] shall not render the applicant ineligible for an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement.

(6) Where any of the persons making an application previously owned, or was beneficially entitled to an estate or interest in, a dwelling in the State and such dwelling, because of its size, is not suited to the current accommodation needs of the applicant’s household (as determined having regard to such matters as the Minister may prescribe or specify in guidelines), such ownership or beneficial entitlement, shall not, whether or not the person owns, or is beneficially entitled to an estate or interest in, the dwelling concerned at the time at which the application is made but subject to the powers of the Minister under sections 11(2)(b) and 12(8)(b), render the applicant ineligible for an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement.

(7) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, make regulations prescribing the method to be used, and the matters to be taken into account, in order to determine the financial means of an applicant and the ability of an applicant to purchase a dwelling or class of dwellings.

(8) Regulations under subsection (7) may, in particular, prescribe—

(a) the manner in which the income of the applicant is to be determined by a housing authority,