Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 March 2022
278. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the extent to which it is expected to speed up the process of local authority housing loans having particular regard to the housing crisis faced by those on local authority waiting lists or currently renting high-rent properties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12290/22]
View answerThe 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 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 home ownership 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.Further details can be found on the following websites localauthorityhomeloan.ie/ and https://www.gov.ie/en/service/00500-local-authority-home-loan-scheme/.
My Department does not collect data on the average time taken by local authorities to process Local Authority Home Loans.
In order to support local authorities, the Housing Agency has been tasked to provide a central support service which assesses applications for local authority loans on behalf of local authorities and makes recommendations to the authorities to approve or refuse applications. The Agency has confirmed the average turnaround time for applications to be assessed (from date received to date returned with recommendation) in October 2021 was 5 working days. However, some applications may take longer to assess due to the need to verify aspects of the application etc.
The application and associated recommendation is then forwarded to the relevant local authority to process. Each local authority must have in place a Credit Committee and it is a matter for the Committee to make the final decision on applications for loans, in accordance with the regulations, and having regard to the recommendations made by the Housing Agency.
