Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
381. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the person or body whose decision it is ultimately to approve local authority mortgages; and if it is the decision of the local authority or a decision of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in each individual case [11742/22]
View answer382. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason that the one parent allowance payment is considered a temporary payment and is not taken into account for local authority home loans given that the payment is guaranteed for a specific number of years unless the parent's circumstances change and is therefore no more temporary than any other source of income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11743/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 381 and 382 together.
Under the Local Authority Home Loan scheme social welfare payments are not generally considered as part of repayment capacity. However, certain long-term State benefit payments may be considered as repayment income only where the main income source is of an earned nature (i.e., more than 50% of the income that forms the full Home Loan application is from a source other than State benefits payments).
Long-term State benefit payments considered will be:
- State Pension (Contributory and Non-contributory);
- Widow’s/Widower’s Pension;
- Blind Pension;
- Invalidity Pension;
- Disability Allowance.
The long-term nature of the payment must be confirmed by the Department of Social Protection or other relevant Government Department.
The One-Parent Family Payment is not taken into account as income for repayment capacity for local authority lending. As noted above, social welfare payments may only be considered where the main source of income is earned, therefore where One-Parent Family Payment is the main source of income it cannot be counted. As the One-Parent Family Payment can also be impacted if the borrower's circumstances change it cannot be factored in as a long term source of income.
The final decision regarding Local Authority Home Loan applications are made by the relevant Local Authority 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 authority. My Department is not involved in individual loan decisions.
Further details can be found on localauthorityhomeloan.ie/.
