Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 November 2018
226. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his plans to change the Rebuilding Ireland loan as announced in February 2018 in view of the issues those applying for same are having; and the number of successful applicants as opposed to the number of applicants. [47545/18]
View answerThe Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme was launched in February to replace the existing House Purchase and the Home Choice Loan Schemes. The Scheme has been established under the Housing (Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan) Regulations 2018, which also provide that I as Minister issue a Statutory Credit Policy. The purpose of the Policy is to set out in more detail the eligibility criteria for obtaining a loan and procedures to be followed by local authorities in considering loan applications. In addition the Housing Agency has been given the task of carrying out assessment of the loan applications on behalf of the authorities and making recommendations in respect of each application. Each local authority must have in place a credit committee and it is a matter for the committee to make the decision on applications for loans, in accordance with the Regulations and Statutory Credit Policy, having regard to the recommendations made by the Housing Agency.
In line with best practice, I have asked my Department to undertake a review of the operation of the Scheme. The review will have regard to the advice from local authorities, the Housing Agency and Housing Finance Agency, and will also take account of the issues raised by Dail Deputies over the last 9 months. However, in making any recommendations in relation to the operation of the Scheme, the review will also have to take account of the need to ensure that lending issued under it is provided on a prudential basis, so as to protect the financial interests of the local authorities.
The most recent figures for the scheme, as at the end of October, indicate that the Housing Agency had received a total of 3,309 applications for assessment since the scheme was launched in February. Of these, 619 were deemed invalid, while the assessment of 107 others was still in progress. Of the remainder, a total of 1,317 applications, or 51% of the total valid number assessed, had been recommended for approval.
