Mortgage to Rent Scheme Administration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 March 2015

Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Questions (907, 910, 912)

Willie Penrose

Question:

907. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to restructure and recast the mortgage-to-rent scheme; if he will focus specifically upon increasing the eligibility limits by at least 30%, as they have not been adjusted since 2011, as well as permitting persons with low incomes but with some positive equity in their homesteads to participate in any such revised scheme with particular emphasis on local authorities as the vehicle for implementing an enhanced mortgage-to-rent scheme to help alleviate the ever-increasing mortgage crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11887/15]

Michelle Mulherin

Question:

910. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the operation of the mortgage-to-rent scheme to date including plans for expansion of the scheme; the number of homeowners in mortgage arrears who have availed of the scheme, on a county basis; the number of homeowners on mortgage arrears he estimates could qualify for the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11941/15]

Finian McGrath

Question:

912. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will raise the threshold up to a realistic level on the mortgage-to-rent scheme to protect families in their homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11968/15]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

I propose to take Questions Nos. 907, 910 and 912 together.

There are currently two mortgage-to-rent schemes in operation through my Department.

A scheme exists whereby a local authority (LA) can acquire ownership of properties with unsustainable local authority mortgages, thus enabling the household to remain in their home as a social housing tenant (LA- mortgage-to-rent). The other scheme provides for an Approved Housing Body (AHB) to acquire ownership of a property with an unsustainable private mortgage, which also enables the household to remain in their home as a social housing tenant (AHB-mortgage-to-rent). Both schemes assist families with income difficulties whose mortgages are unsustainable, and where there is little or no prospect of a significant change in circumstances in the foreseeable future.

To be eligible for the AHB-mortgage-to-rent scheme a household must have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable under the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process, agree to the voluntary surrender of their home, be in negative equity, and be deemed eligible for social housing in accordance with section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009. Where a property is in positive equity other options are open to the household.

In order for a property to be considered under the AHB-mortgage to rent scheme it must be purchased by an Approved Housing Body for less than €220,000 (per property) in the Greater Dublin Area and €180,000 (per property) in the rest of the country. These limits were determined by a working group taking account of available market data including the current social housing acquisition limits. These limits are considered to be reasonable in respect of the income bracket that is targeted by the scheme.

A total of 2,762 cases had been submitted to date under the AHB-mortgage-to-rent scheme. Of these 1,897 were deemed ineligible or terminated during the process, of which 277 cases were not progressed because the household in question was deemed to be over or under-accommodated.

Of the remaining 865 cases submitted, agreement on the sale could not be agreed in 42 cases, 88 have been completed, 169 are currently with the lenders and the remaining 566 are still being actively progressed.

My Department has issued funding approval in respect of 122 cases. There has been an increase in cases being progressed through the scheme this year since a revised protocol was put in place. The operation of the Scheme is closely monitored on an on-going basis by my Department and the Housing Agency who are in regular contact with AHBs and financial institutions.

The LA - mortgage-to-rent (LAMTR) scheme, which was rolled out nationally in February 2014, allows local authorities to offer the mortgage to rent scheme to local authority mortgage holders with unsustainable mortgages. To date, 81 households in distress with local authority mortgage arrears have been assisted through the scheme. My Department has invited the submission of the first tranche of 2015 LAMTR claims from local authorities by 30 April 2015.

A breakdown of MTR by Local Authority area is shown in the table.

Local Authority	AHB-MTR	LA-MTR
Carlow County Council	4	2
Cavan County Council	1	2
Clare County Council	2	1
Cork City Council	4
Cork County Council	3
Donegal County Council		3
Dublin City Council	14	42
Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council	1
Fingal County Council	4
Galway City Council
Galway County Council	1
Kerry County Council	1
Kildare County Council	6	1
Kilkenny County Council	3	1
Laois County Council	1	2
Leitrim County Council	1
Limerick City and County Council	4
Longford County Council
Louth County Council	9	1
Mayo County Council
Meath County Council	7
Monaghan Town council
Offaly County Council	2
Roscommon County Council		1
Sligo County Council
South Dublin County Council	5
Tipperary County Council	3
Waterford County Council	6
Westmeath County Council	2	24
Wexford County Council	1	1
Wicklow County Council	3
Grand Total	88	81