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DUBLIN City Council says it has been “inundated” with applications for a rent-to-buy scheme for 91 apartments in Rialto, Glasnevin and Finglas. The scheme, launched on Tuesday, attracted “hundreds” of calls, according to a DCC spokesperson. “At one stage there were 64 callers in a queue for information,” he said.

While some developers have offered units on a rent to-buy basis, DCC is the first local authority to do so, he said. The scheme allows the renter to agree a fixed price at the outset and then rent their home for a maximum of three years. If they buy during the time around 80 per cent of what they have paid in rent is taken off the price. Renters move into a furnished unit and keep the furniture if they decide to buy. Successful applicants will be taken from the council’s affordable housing list which currently has 3,000 names.