Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022
320. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the extent to which it remains possible to accelerate the local authority house building programme and the use of Rebuilding Ireland housing loans or local authority-led loans in the short term with particular reference to the need to achieve a more rapid turnover of the applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3547/22]
View answerThe Government is committed to increasing social housing delivery and plans to deliver more than 90,000 social homes to 2030 through our Housing for All Plan. Social Housing build and long term lease targets issued to local authorities in September 2021 for the period 2022 - 2026. 47,600 new social homes will be built between 2022 and 2026.
The focus of the social housing programme will be to increase the number of new-build homes, with a target to reach delivery of more than 9,500 new-build homes on average each year for the next five years to 2026.
The introduction of the Local Authority Home Loan was announced as part of Housing For All. This is the successor to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loans Scheme. It has been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022 for people on modest or low incomes who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build. It is available for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants. The Local Authority Home Loan can also be used for the purchase of homes through State schemes such as the Tenant Purchase Scheme and Affordable Housing Schemes, with the exception of the First Home Scheme.
The Scheme supports homeownership amongst lower to moderate income households by reducing the cost of mortgage finance and increasing the level of financing available, particularly for single applicants in urban areas.
For clarity, neither the Local Authority Home Loan, nor its predecessor the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, are used to finance the local authority house building programme.
Further details can be found on the following websites: //localauthorityhomeloan.ie/ and www.gov.ie/en/service/00500-local-authority-home-loan-scheme/.
