In May 2006 I received a booklet from Dublin City Council with a list of properties available under its affordable housing scheme. I filled in the application, indicating the three properties I was interested in – taking care to stay within the Net Disposable Income guidelines provided by the Council – and sent the application back. The draw was scheduled to be held in July of that year.

I waited a few months, regularly checking the Council’s website. But no information about the draw ever appeared on it. Finally, in September, I received a notice from the Council that I had been unsuccessful in the lottery. Back to the drawing board – or so I thought.

In November, I received another newsletter, with another selection of properties, and I filled in the form again. That draw was scheduled to be held “early in the New Year” (2007).

So fast forward to Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 5.30pm. The Council phoned me, wanting to know a few things about my employment status and salary. It seems that I wasn’t unsuccessful in the 2006 draw after all – the intended purchaser had just withdrawn, and I was next on the list.

With my salary, the Council employee told me, I would not be eligible for a bank mortgage. But I could “probably” qualify for the Shared Ownership Scheme – if I could come up with a low-five-figures deposit, in addition to the €1,300 that all successful applicants must provide. I wondered to myself how it was possible that a person could fall well within the Council’s NDI guidelines and still not be able to meet the financial requirements for the apartment. But fortunately it didn’t matter in my case because I would be able to come up with the extra deposit (thanks, parents). The employee told me he would put the information in the post to me and added, “We need to move quickly on this.”

The materials obviously went out too late for that evening’s post and they were sent Registered, which meant that when I arrived home on Monday, it was to a notice from the post office rather than the letter itself. So it was Tuesday morning (February 13^th) before I was finally able to get my hands on it. Included in the envelope were the following:

• A letter informing me that the Council had a “provisional offer” for this property, subject to the standard conditions, and advising that I needed to send them the following documents:

• • Copy of my passport
  • If not living in Dublin area, evidence of permanent employment in Dublin City (not applicable in my case)
  • A form signed by the Revenue Commissioners stating that I had not previously claimed tax relief on a house purchase
  • A copy of a loan approval letter (I assumed I didn’t need this since I was applying for Shared Ownership – but it would have been nice if the form had been clear about this!)
  • P60 or P21 for previous tax year.
• Information Brochure on the Shared Ownership Scheme
• Map of the Dublin City Council boundaries
• Shared Ownership application form, with which I also had to submit the following:
  • €50 fee (I’d already submitted this with my initial affordable housing application. According to the DCC website, I didn’t have to submit it again – but there was nothing to indicate this on the form itself)
  • 3 most recent payslips
  • Proof of right to permanent residence in Ireland
  • Documentary evidence of at least €1,300 savings
  • Documentary evidence of any existing loans or other financial commitments
  • Form completed by employer showing my salary and length of employment
  • Details of any social welfare payments

What wasn’t included was any information about the property itself. Didn’t I get to see it, at least, before deciding whether I wanted it or not? I phoned up the Council and was told that no, I would have to get all these forms into them – within two weeks – and if they decided I met the eligibility criteria, then I would get to see the place.

So I started putting the documentation together. Most of it was pretty easy, although I did have to make a trip down to the Revenue office for the one form. That was no problem, really – I had been afraid that I would have to queue for a couple hours, but the woman at reception was able to do it for me and I was in and out of there within five minutes. The only thing I had to wait for was the confirmation of my savings. If all went according to plan, I should be able to file all the documents by the end of the week.

In the meantime, I went back and looked at the form I had submitted when this lottery was announced. The issue about the NDI guidelines was still bothering me. On the application form, they tell you what you need to earn per week, after all your taxes and other deductions are taken out, to be able to afford each property. I knew that I met that amount for every property I applied for, and I’ve had a salary increase since I applied, so how was it that I was now being told I couldn’t get a bank mortgage and would have to come up with extra cash just to get a Shared Ownership loan?

When I looked at the form, I realised why. The NDI guidelines were for the regular two-bedroom apartments. I had been drawn for a two-bedroom apartment plus parking space, which cost €25,000 extra. There weren’t separate applications for apartments with or without parking spaces. I have no use whatsoever for a parking space; I know it’ll increase the resale value, but I’d rather just take the apartment without it and knock the €25,000 off the price. But according to the Council, I can’t do that. On the one hand, I think they should have had a separate application for this property – but then again, if they did, I probably wouldn’t have applied for it and then I wouldn’t be on the verge of getting my own apartment now.

By Thursday 15^th, I still hadn’t received all the documentation I needed, so I was surprised when the Council phoned to apologise for not being able to set up the viewing yet. Apparently they were just waiting for the ‘supervisor’ to come back to work. I would be able to see it next week.

Friday morning came, and the postman went – without delivering my bank statement. So I went to the bank to see if they could give me one. Oh no, I was told, we can’t do that. We can only post it to you. And no, we can’t give you a letter confirming your balance. Honestly, the bureaucracy in this country! After a bit of to and fro, the bank clerk finally agreed to give me a printout – making sure I knew how big a favour she was doing for me. I didn’t think this would be sufficient (the application form said it had to be on ‘official bank paper’) but it was obvious I wasn’t getting anything more so I took the printout and left, making a mental note to switch my accounts to a bank that charges less in fees.

I was near enough the Corpo anyway so I decided to chance my arm with the faux statement. Sure enough, they said it wouldn’t suffice, but they would take it anyway (along with the rest of my documentation) and I could send them the official statement as soon as I got it. We also arranged a viewing time of 11.30 on Monday. And I got confirmation of which precise unit it is. When I got back to the office, I looked at the building floorplan and realised – it’s one of the largest apartments, and it’s situated on the second floor, and on the corner, with the balcony overlooking the square rather than the road. And there was me thinking it’s only the bad units that go for affordable housing!

After a weekend in which I alternated between virtually fitting the apartment out and imagining all the things that could go wrong, on Monday 19^th I finally got to see the place.

The first thing I noticed was that it was smaller than the floorplans had led me to believe. And definitely smaller than the other units in the complex, which I had seen photographs of on daft.ie. It turned out that the developers had sold the entire building to Dublin City Council and, presumably knowing in advance that that was the plan, they just built all the units in it to smaller scale. It wasn’t really small, though, and there was ample storage space (built-in wardrobes and shelving), which would mean I would need less furniture. Certainly, it was large enough for everything I owned, and with room to grow – provided I could just break myself of the habit of accumulating books! The kitchen was fabulous – dishwasher, washing machine, full-size refrigerator/freezer – for that alone, I wanted the apartment. It also had large windows, a view overlooking the courtyard rather than the street, and a very attractive full bathroom. My exaggerated expectations aside, I was happy with it.

Then they mentioned the management fees.

Holy moly. I’d heard about these fees, and knew that they were a big problem – that no legislation exists to protect tenants from extortion by private management companies. I would have thought that Dublin City Council, as a public body, would have been under some legal requirement around this issue, but apparently not. The fees would raise my costs by over €200 a month. That figure was definitely not factored into the Net Disposable Income guidelines. Making quick mental calculations, I worked out that I could just about afford the place – but really, just about. It would require belt tightening strict enough to fit Victoria Beckham’s waist. Was I really prepared to do that?

Yes. I was. I’ve been waiting too long for an opportunity like this. God knows when I’ll get another one. At its market value the apartment would be overpriced, but the “affordable” price wasn’t unreasonable, and I doubted I would get a better place (especially a better two-bedroom!) if I passed it up. So I handed over my €1,300 bank draft.

The next step, I was told, was to get them confirmation that I had access to €15,000, that being the difference between the Shared Ownership mortgage limit (€250,000) and the price of the apartment. Translation: a letter from my parents agreeing to give me the money. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for the Council’s Loan Unit to approve my application – i.e. to agree that my salary is enough that I can afford the place. This could take until the middle of March, I was told. Of course, at that point it could all go horribly wrong.

I also asked about getting a snag done. Apparently, I wasn’t allowed to – the Council did its own snag when it bought the place. They were happy that there were no major issues, and if there were, they would be taken care of – but minor things were my own responsibility. Caveat emptor. They also said that I didn’t need a solicitor at all, although their website advises getting one just to go over the contract. I’ll probably do that just to be on the safe side. But it’s still a couple months away. Assuming the loan is approved, I could expect to close around the beginning of May.

While I waited for my loan approval, and again imagined everything that could go wrong, I started looking into what other fees I might accrue. The Council advised me that I would only be liable for ESB – no Bord Gáis or bin charges, as these were all included in the management fees – which at least was a relief. They also told me the name of the management company, so I did a bit of research on them. This turned up comments on boards.ie that they are considered a “high quality” company, so at least I’m getting the services I’m paying for. Nonetheless I sought out a poster on the site who lived in the complex, to get more details.

On Wednesday 21^st, I arrived home from work to find a letter from the Council. By this time I had worked up such anxiety that I half expected to open it to find a rejection. But no, it was just an acknowledgement of my deposit. Curiously, it also said that I “appear to meet the lending criteria” of the three banks that offer mortgages for affordable housing. I decided I may as well give them a ring tomorrow, just to see what they had to say.

The next day I looked up those banks on the internet, used their mortgage calculators and in each case got the result “sorry, you don’t qualify”. I wasn’t entirely sure they didn’t have some special arrangement for affordable housing applicants, though, so I phoned the one that looked the most likely (i.e. the only one that actually mentioned special deals for affordable housing applicants on their website). But no. The maximum I could borrow, I was told, was €170,000. There’s no way I’d get the balance of that from my parents, so I thanked him and hung up. And didn’t bother phoning the other banks.

It really shows you what a joke the whole thing is, I think, when someone on my salary – I actually quoted him a figure just above the average industrial wage – is unable to get a mortgage for so-called “affordable housing”. The whole process needs a complete rethink.

That evening (Thursday) I arrived home to another letter from the Council. This was in a larger envelope than the previous letter, so I knew immediately it was nothing to get paranoid about (they’d hardly need a B5 for a rejection, right?). It turned out to be a cover letter stating that “it is proposed to recommend you for loan approval under the Shared Ownership Scheme” and a form that included details of the scheme and what they needed from me – to be signed and returned within a week. Not having much of a head for mortgage-related legalese, I scanned it and sent it to my father to read. (How on earth do people without financially-minded parents manage these things?)

My father pointed out a few things that needed clarification, so I phoned up the Council and asked about them. Yes, the €2,900 the Council would charge me in legal fees could be added to the mortgage, notwithstanding the fact that I was already borrowing the maximum loan amount from them. No, I didn’t need to pay extra for apartment insurance – that would be included in the management fees. So the grand total of what I would need to pay up front was just the €15,000 deposit and the €2,600 first-year management fee. And I might need to access the €15,000 at extremely short notice – which ruled out the thoughts we had of putting it into a short-term interest-earning account. Oh well, it wouldn’t have earned much interest anyway.

On Monday, 26^th February, I went by the Council to drop off my signed form, and I asked another question. Was there a fixed day of the month when my monthly mortgage repayments would be due, and would it be affected in any way by which day of the month the closing took place on? I was considering the possibility of closing on, say, the 28^th, and then having to make another payment on the 1^st. I needed to know so that I could ensure I had enough money for both.

The woman at the Council told me that yes, the first payment would be due on the 1^st regardless of what day the closing took place. And it would cover not only the payments for the month ahead, but also for every day previous up to the date of closing. So the first payment would be quite large. She also told me that the monthly payments could only be made by direct debit. However, I was free to pay cash for the amount that I owed for the period in between the closing date and the 1^st of the next month.

She also gave me another outline of the time frame I was looking at. The form I was turning in today would go in for loan approval, which would take about two weeks. Then it would take another six weeks for final approval. After that, it goes to the Law Department, which could take another six weeks to clear it.

When I got home that day, the letter from my parents confirming that they were giving me the €15,000 (apparently it was important that it said giving, not loaning) had arrived. So on Tuesday, 27^th February, I dropped it by the Council office. Amusingly the woman I’d spoken to at length only the day before had no memory of me whatsoever and I quickly got tired of trying to explain to her what the letter was, asking only that she deliver it to the person dealing with my application, as “he’ll know what it is”.

By Friday, 2^nd March, the €15,000 had arrived in my bank account. I phoned up my guy at the Council to find out at what point they would need evidence that I had that money. He said that when my SO4 was approved, I would receive a form SO3 and I would have to send that back with evidence that I had the €15,000. I asked if I should therefore order a bank statement right away (I was concerned that there might be some strange rule that you had to have a statement dated, like, within five days of sending in the form) and he said I might as well. He also confirmed that he had been given the letter I had dropped off earlier that week from my parents (well, actually what he said was “It’s around here somewhere”, which wasn’t particularly reassuring). So I hung up, called up my bank and ordered another statement.

By now my paranoia was pretty strong and I was analysing everything in this conversation for hints that he knew I was never going to get approved and was just telling me things to string me along…

On Thursday, 8^th March, after one of the longest weeks of my life, I finally arrived home to an A4 envelope with my name on it. There was no return address, but I knew straightaway what it was and, because of the size of the envelope, that it was good news.

“I am pleased to inform you that you have been provisionally improved ….”

Inside was a Certificate of Provisional Approval (Form S02) and an Application for Final Approval (Form S03).

Filling out the SO3, it became apparent that it was drafted in the assumption that I would be picking out a property myself. I don’t know why the Council doesn’t make up a different form for lottery winners. That would seem logical, wouldn’t it? I wasn’t sure if I needed to answer all the questions, since they would already know the answers, and I didn’t know all the answers anyway so I phoned for clarification. He told me I didn’t need to fill in the vendors’ details. I then asked under what circumstances final approval might not be granted. The response was “I’ve never seen a case where it wasn’t granted at this stage.” So it looks like the place is definitely going to be mine!

I asked again about the timeframe. It would take about four weeks for final approval, he said, then 8-10 for the legal stuff. A bit of a different breakdown of time than that given to me previously, but still about the same length of time overall. It was now early March, so I was still on track for a May move-in.

On Monday morning (12 March) I dropped by the Council with my completed SO3 and the other documents requested: evidence that I had the €15,000 in my bank account and that it wasn’t a loan (either to me or to my parents), and a copy of my most recent payslip.

Several weeks later, on Thursday 5^th April, I received another reassuringly large envelope. It contained a letter stating that I needed to submit “the certificates listed in the attached report”. However, no report appeared to be attached. The letter also gave a breakdown of my approximate monthly repayments, which came out to just under what the Council employee had told me they would be. It also said that in addition to the Mortgage Protection Insurance, included in the repayments, I would need to obtain fire and flood insurance. At this point I was starting to wonder whether I would actually be able to afford the place at all. Finally, it said that I needed to pay by direct debit and that a form was attached. But no form was attached.

Also included was a Certificate of Final Approval, and a couple documents relating to a snag. But of course, I’d already been told that I couldn’t get a snag! Now I was really confused. Finally, a badly-photocopied brochure on the Mortgage Protection Insurance was included.

The Council offices were closed for Good Friday and Easter Monday, so it was Tuesday before I was able to go in. My usual contact was out that day and the person I spoke to unfortunately only added to my confusion. He insisted that I was, after all, allowed to get a snag done, and that I should phone back tomorrow to arrange it.

So the next day I phoned back and again was told no, I couldn’t get a snag done, the Council had already done it – and no, I didn’t get to see their report either – but if I did find any problems they would be fixed. Not very reassuring! He also said that I didn’t need to obtain fire and flood insurance as that was included in my management fees. And the direct debit form could be dealt with at the closing. So once again, it seems I was sent documents that were intended for someone purchasing a private home through the shared ownership scheme. And once again, I wondered why the Council couldn’t just get their act together and have one set of forms to go to those purchasers, and another to go to those of us doing the lottery.

Anyway, apparently all I actually had to do now was sign the form saying that the snag had been done to my satisfaction. I really wasn’t comfortable signing this, not having a clue what the snag had found, but it seemed I had no choice. I spoke to a friend of mine who’s a Dublin City Councillor and who had done the same thing when he got his house: he confessed that he hadn’t even thought about it, but agreed, when I pointed it out to him, that it was a bit dodgy compelling people to do this purely on faith. He said that he would raise it with the City Manager. In the meantime, though, there was nothing for me to do but sign.

So I signed, and dropped it by the next day. I asked again about the timeframe: eight more weeks (“Solicitors are very busy this time of year”).

On Thursday 19^th, I received a letter from the Council’s solicitors saying that I needed to have my solicitor draw up and send them a draft Family Home Declaration. The letter said that they would look it over and, if it was okay, they would make an appointment with the Council for the closing, on which day I was to have the Declaration signed and stamped by my solicitor. I was absolutely positive that the Council had previously told me this requirement wouldn’t apply to me as a single person (not having a family!), but when I phoned back to clarify this I was told that I did need to have it done. So I had to find a solicitor. Luckily I have good work contacts, so I phoned up one of them and he agreed to see me on Monday.

The Declaration basically said that the home isn’t a family home under Family Law, that no Family Law provisions apply to it, and that I am not and never have been married. It hardly seemed worth having to go to a solicitor for, but I guess that’s the law. On Tuesday I dropped the draft form off at the Council’s solicitors. I asked how long it would take for the closing, but the receptionist wouldn’t be drawn on a time period, which I guess is fair enough seeing as receptionists don’t always know these things anyway.

And then on Friday morning an amazing thing happened. The Council phoned to say that a date for the closing had been set! It was the following Thursday, 3^rd May – more than a month ahead of schedule. I was told to go to my solicitor’s that morning and have my Family Home Declaration sworn. I would then bring this to the Council, along with a bank draft to cover the €15,000 plus the amount of the management fee that Dublin City Council had had to pay in advance (approximately half of it) and a recent payslip. From there, I would go back to the Council’s solicitors and get my keys!!!!

That evening, I received a letter from the Council’s solicitors confirming the above. It said that my appointment with them would take about 1-1.5 hours, and also advised me to make sure I brought a receipt from Dublin City Council for the apartment management fee.

So on Thursday, 3^rd May, I went to my solicitor and had the Family Home Declaration sworn. Then it was over to the Council offices on Wood Quay. I was taken into a private room and one of the Council employees went over the paperwork with me. I filled out a form for Revenue for the mortgage interest relief, which would be deducted from my monthly payments. I was told I would be notified shortly what that would bring my payments down to. I handed over my bank draft for €15,000 plus six months’ management fees, and was given receipts for both. The Council employee wasn’t sure what would happen at the end of the six months, but said that their solicitors would know.

I was told that after a year I could switch to a full mortgage, provided the property was registered. I would have to have a valuation done and pay back the difference in the clawback. In the meantime, I could also make special payments of €1,000 minimum to slowly buy out the rental share.

All this done, I then went over to the Council’s solicitors. The solicitor I dealt with was young and very friendly. She went over all the documents with me, paragraph by paragraph.

She told me that there is actually a legal question around when I can switch to a full mortgage – it might be a year or it might be three years, at the moment nobody’s really sure. She wasn’t aware of the possibility of buying out the rental share in minimum €1,000 increments, but when I mentioned it to her, she said that would be a good thing because it would increase the proportion of the apartment that I owned and, therefore, the proportion on which I could claim mortgage interest relief. She didn’t know whether the management company would bill me for a full year’s management fees at the end of the six months, either, and told me to ask the manager on-site.

She said that if I found anything wrong with the property upon moving in, I should let the Council know and it would be fixed. This really didn’t make me feel much better about not being able to have a snag done, because I know the snaggers would catch things I never would (or at least not until it was too late to have the Council take care of them). And she warned me that I risked being evicted if I couldn’t keep up the payments, but that if I did run into financial difficulties I should let the Council know, as they were generally amenable to working out special payment plans.

After an hour or so we were finished. And I got my keys.

*************

So I’ve been in the apartment for a couple weeks now, and the thrill is still very new. It’s a lovely place, far nicer than anything I could afford on my own. I’ve heard some complaints about substandard affordable properties but that’s definitely not a problem with this place. I still can’t quite believe my luck!

Nonetheless, I believe that there are serious problems with the scheme, which need to be resolved. The lack of transparency, for one. The lack of options for people with families or who are planning to start families in a few years. And most significantly, the cost. I really can’t see how most people at or below the average industrial wage could afford “affordable housing”. Not only are the monthly payments really quite high, not only was an extra deposit needed because the Council won’t lend over €250,000, but when you factor in the management fees, the need for things like floors and blinds to be installed (and I understand that in some local authority areas you also have to buy your own refrigerator, washing machine etc!), and even basic furniture, it is quite a significant financial burden that a lot of low-to-middle-income people simply will not be able to meet. I’m one of the lucky ones, and I’m very grateful. But the scheme will be of use to only a limited number of us until these issues are resolved.