'Begin to buy' plan:The State would jointly buy homes with tens of thousands of young homebuyers under the Labour Party general election manifesto published yesterday.
Under the scheme, individuals would buy as much of a share in the house as they could afford, subject to buying a minimum stake of 25 per cent, with the State paying for the rest - though they would be able to buy more, or all, of the house over time.
The "begin to buy" plan would cost the State €100 million a year in mortgage interest, but would save taxpayers' money over time because it would cut the demand for local authority homes.
A €2.5 billion exchequer fund managed by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) would be established to provide funds to meet the State's bill under the plan, which was created by Labour Dún Laoghaire TD Eamon Gilmore.
For example, a couple capable of qualifying for a €250,000 bank mortgage would be able to bid for a €400,000 property once they have been given clearance by their local authority.
The housing assistance fund administered by the NTMA would guarantee the balance of the loan necessary to buy at that price and take a share in the house equivalent to the amount of resources it supplies.
The couple would repay their approved mortgage in the normal way, and would be free to sell and redeem their share of the property, which they could then use to buy somewhere else - using the same scheme if necessary.
Encouraged to buy up the outstanding stake, homebuyers would share any increase in the property's value in accordance with the share they owned at the time of any sale.
Some 10,000 local authority houses would be built over seven years, while people renting voluntary and co-operative-built homes would be encouraged to buy their homes. Similar incentives would be offered to those renting privately owned homes.
Public lands that could be used to build local authority houses would not be sold off, while local councils would be given extra compulsory purchase powers to put together land banks for houses, hospitals and schools.
Planning permission for houses would not be given unless lands for schools, parks, pitches, shops and other services were made available at the same time by the property developer.
Though 500,000 houses have been built over the past 10 years, the numbers on local authority waiting lists have doubled in the same time, while 60,000 people "are trapped" on rent allowance, unable to get work without endangering the State payment.
"Planning profoundly affects how we live. It affects where we live, how we get around, how much time we spend commuting and how much time we have for rest and recreation," the Labour manifesto said.
"The construction boom has treated houses as an end in themselves instead of the homes and communities they become. Joined-up planning is too important to be neglected any longer."
