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Social and Affordable Housing Provision

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 May 2014

Tuesday, 27 May 2014

Questions (550)

Michael McCarthy

Question:

550. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the progress that has been made on the planned review into Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 particularly in terms of changes to the legislation which may affect shared ownership schemes; if he has reviewed the stand-alone analysis of the shared ownership scheme by the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency; the recommendations contained in same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22763/14]

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Written answers

The 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 Acts 2000-2013. Details regarding the review are avail able on my Department’s website: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/PublicConsultations/.

As regards the review of Part V of the Planning and Development Acts, Action 9 of the recently published Construction 2020 – A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sector provides that the review of Part V will be completed in Q2 of 2014. It is anticipated that any legislative changes required on foot of the review will be incorporated into the General Scheme for a Planning Bill, which is being prepared at the moment.

As regards shared ownership, I fully recognise that shared ownership home owners, amongst others, have been affected by issues such as unemployment and possible negative equity. In 2013, I asked the Housing Agency to conduct a standalone review of the shared ownership scheme, including identification of the main difficulties and recommendations for mitigating measures for shared ownership households. While I have received an initial draft of the review from the Agency, a number of issues have been identified that need further detailed financial analysis.

Full information on the status of each local authority’s loan book is required in order to accurately determine the implications of any possible solutions to shared ownership issues on Local Authority debt.  This substantial project involving my Department, the Local Government Management Agency and the local authorities themselves is under way. It will be a number of months before sufficient data has been collected in order to complete the requisite analysis to enable the completion of the review.

Pending full conclusion of this review, my Department issued a circular letter to local authorities setting out some of the options and interim actions that might be explored to alleviate the difficulties of those in shared ownership distress. These include the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process and room rental for Shared Ownership mortgage holders. It is accepted that these proposals are not a complete solution to the issues that arise for such mortgage holders but are intended as an interim measure pending the outcome of the review.

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