Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 December 2013
156. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to address the concerns of those who purchased affordable homes through local authorities in the boom years who cannot resell their properties. [54591/13]
View answerThe Government's 2011 housing policy statement announced the standing down of all affordable housing schemes, including the shared ownership scheme, in the context of a full review of Part V of the Planning and Development Act. Details regarding the review are available on my Department's website www.environ.ie; the period for public submissions closed on 27 September 2013 and submissions made by a variety of interested parties are now under consideration.
I expect to be in a position to formulate future policy approaches and actions, taking account of the consultation process, early in 2014.
As an interim measure, my Department recently issued a circular to local authorities setting out some of the options that might be explored to alleviate the difficulties of those in shared ownership distress. These include clarification on renting of rooms and the announcement of the nationwide extension of the Local Authority Mortgage-to-Rent (LAMTR) scheme following the successful completion of a pilot scheme in two local authority areas. To support the national rollout of LAMTR, with the support of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Housing Finance Agency, I will be allocating an additional €20m to the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP) fund in 2014 to significantly expand the capacity of that initiative to address mortgage distress.
