Housing Authority's property scheme

With reference to the letter 'Left out of government property scheme' (The Sunday Times, December 7) the Housing Authority would like to clarify some points.

In February 2007, the authority launched the Equity Sharing Scheme to help engaged couples and families with children buying their first property from the private sector who cannot meet the price of property through a bank loan.

The scheme aimed for 250 applications. As it was very successful, this number had been accepted by the end of April 2008 with expenditure amounting to over €6.5 million. Therefore, applications submitted after April 24 this year were not processed, but details of the applicants were kept for the record and are now considered under the new scheme. If applications were refused, this was done on eligibility grounds. The authority would like to underline that these schemes are aimed to help first-time buyers who would be unable to purchase property without such help.

As the authority understands that in some cases the process of purchase could not be halted, those who applied under the old scheme after April 24 but signed a preliminary agreement before the new scheme was launched are till considered under the new scheme.

But those who concluded their purchase before October 1, that is, before the scheme was launched and information on the assistance was available, are not eligible as one can conclude that they can afford to buy the property without assistance.