My Department operates the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, which is targeted at first time buyers who wish to own their own home, have access to an adequate deposit and have the capacity to repay a mortgage, but who are unable to access a mortgage sufficient for them to purchase their first home.
The loan enables credit worthy first time buyers to access sustainable mortgage lending to purchase new or second-hand properties in a suitable price range.
Further information on the scheme is available on the dedicated website www.rebuildingirelandhomeloan.ie.
My Department is also focused on ensuring that existing housing stock is utilised to its fullest extent including a targeted, effective and co-ordinated approach to identifying and tackling vacancy across Ireland.
In that context, Pillar 5 of Rebuilding Ireland, set out a range of measures to assist in meeting housing needs by ensuring that our existing housing stock is used to the greatest extent possible. Key to this was the publication of the National Vacant Housing Reuse Strategy, published in 2018, contains a range of objectives and key actions to be pursued in partnership with stakeholders and agencies across the housing sector to address vacancy in our housing stock.
The Strategy is underpinned by a number of supports and guidance available to bring vacant housing stock back into use including:
- The Repair and Leasing Scheme
- The Buy and Renew Scheme
- The Housing Acquisitions Fund
To support this work at local authority level, the Department has secured funding for each local authority to support the work of a Vacant Homes Office. The provision of central funding reinforces the capacity of the Department’s Vacant Homes Unit to liaise with and seek information/statistics from a dedicated contact point within each local authority. The Vacant Homes Office plays a key role in the co-ordination of this work within each local authority.
