Residents of housing bodies in Kildare and around the country are campaigning for the right to own their own homes, but are experiencing significant difficulty. Residents were told that they would be given the option to buy their homes, and they have minutes and documents to support their claim
Now, 25 years later they are being told that, no, the purchase offer will not be extended to them, the Housing Association says no such offer was made and no mechanism exists to allow residents to purchase their own homes.
This debacle has tied these families to a life of renting, they now have no option to ever own their own homes. Many of them will not qualify for a mortgage due to their age, many have retired. Residents chose housing bodies precisely so they would have the option to own their own home, a home that at the time was out of reach
These people are being sent from pillar to post, they are not being given adequate responses, and are not being shown the respect they deserve.
These people have built their lives and reared their families in these homes, on the understanding that they would eventually have the option to own them. For the tables to be turned on them 25 years later is totally unacceptable.