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A Pathway to Homeownership: The Role of Tenant Purchase in Ireland
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By: Aideen Hayden
Publisher: Institute of Public Administration
Published: April 2025
Categories: Non-Fiction, Politics
Language: English
On sale at: www.ipa.ie
ISBN-13: 9781910393604

Since the foundation of the Irish state, nearly two-thirds of all local authority housing has been sold to sitting tenants at significant discounts through various tenant purchase schemes. For decades, tenant purchase has shaped Irish housing policy, enabling many low-income families to achieve homeownership, while also sparking controversy – some describe it as the state ‘selling off the family silver’. Until recently, nearly one in four homeowners in Ireland acquired their homes through this route. This book provides the first comprehensive account of the evolution of tenant purchase in Ireland, contrasting its trajectory with similar policies, such as the UK’s Right to Buy. Drawing on historical sources, data analysis and original interviews, it explores the impact of tenant purchase on social housing provision, wealth distribution and the broader housing system. It critically examines the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of the policy, highlighting systemic flaws that have led to a weakened social housing sector and political reluctance to reform, despite mounting evidence. At a time when Ireland faces a deep housing crisis, this book asks whether tenant purchase has a role in the future and, if so, how its core objective – expanding homeownership for lower-income households – might be achieved through alternative means. Taking a historical perspective, it demonstrates how past policy decisions created lasting consequences that are difficult to undo. As Chair of Threshold, the national housing charity, for over two decades, Aideen Hayden has been at the forefront of debates on the Irish housing system. In recognition of her work on homelessness prevention in Ireland, she was appointed to the Irish Senate in 2011. She is the author of several influential housing research reports and has lectured at University College Dublin’s School of Social Work, Social Justice and Social Policy. Aideen also co-founded a working group within the European Network of Housing Research. She is a qualified solicitor and holds a PhD in Housing Policy from University College Dublin.

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