Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 November 2020
96. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of Rebuilding Ireland home loans currently in arrears and over three months by local authority in tabular form; if bad debt provisions under this scheme are carried by the local authorities or another agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35570/20]
View answerMy Department publishes quarterly statistics on local authority mortgage arrears on its website on the following link: https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/statistics/house-prices-loans-and-profile-borrowers/local-authority-loan-activity, which shows data up to 30 June 2020. This dataset provides information on arrears on all local authority mortgage lending, including the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan (RIHL).
Separately, the Department collects information on arrears on the RIHL. Provisional data for 31 August shows that 12 RIHL loans were notified as being in arrears of more than 90 days, as set out in the table below:
|
Local Authority with RIHL Loans in arrears of more than 09 Days |
Number of loans |
|
Dublin City Council |
7 |
|
Kildare County Council |
3 |
|
South Dublin County Council |
1 |
|
Wexford County Council |
1 |
|
Total |
12 |
Bad debt provisions under this scheme are carried by local authorities as they are the lender. However, there is a local authority mortgage protection insurance scheme in place, and this may provide recourse for local authorities if the reason for non-repayment by the borrower is covered by the insurance (broadly speaking death or disability are the main issues covered).
The final decision on loan approval with the RIHL is a matter for the relevant local authority and its credit committee on a case-by-case basis. Decisions on all housing loan applications must be made in accordance with the Regulations establishing the scheme and the credit policy that underpins the scheme, in order to ensure prudence and consistency in approaches in the best interests of both borrowers and the lending local authorities.
