Thomas Gould
Question:384. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on the operation of ‘home for life’ in the mortgage-to-rent scheme. [25852/23]
View answerTuesday, 30 May 2023
Questions (384, 385)
Thomas Gould
Question:385. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of mortgage-to-rent applications, by provider, approved to date in 2023. [25853/23]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 384 and 385 together.
The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme was introduced in 2012 for borrowers of commercial lending institutions and is targeted at those households in mortgage arrears who have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable by their lender under the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP), who agree to the voluntary surrender of their home and who have very limited options, if any, to meet their long-term housing needs themselves. In addition, the household must be deemed eligible for social housing support. The concept of the scheme is that a household with an unsustainable mortgage goes from being a homeowner to being a social housing tenant. Under the MTR scheme, the borrower surrenders their property to their lender and it will be then sold to an MTR provider who can be either an Approved Housing Body (AHB) or since 2018 a private company, Home for Life Ltd. The AHB or local authority (in the case where the property is sold to a private company) becomes the landlord and the borrower remains in the property as a tenant paying a differential rent to the landlord based on his or her income.
To the end of Q1-2023, 2,130 households with unsustainable private mortgages have completed the MTR scheme since its introduction. A total of 6,154 individuals are benefitting from the scheme, which comprises 3,391 adults and 2,763 children. The Housing Agency publishes, on a quarterly basis, detailed statistical information on the operation of the MTR scheme, including a breakdown by provider. This information is available on The Housing Agency's website at the following link: www.housingagency.ie/housing-information/mortgage-rent-statistics
In Q4 2022, The Housing Agency and my Department agreed to pause Agreements for Lease and Lease Agreements with the Home for Life until The Housing Agency examined some issues with the repair work on a number of properties. The issuing of Agreements for Lease and Lease Agreements has now resumed.
Both the Programme for Government and Housing for All commit to strengthening the Mortgage to Rent scheme and ensuring that it is helping those who need it. Building on the significant amendments already made to the scheme in 2017, a review of the scheme was (published in January 2022) and whilst the scheme was assessed to be performing well, a number of recommendations were made that would further strengthen the scheme. This included the broadening of eligibility criteria for the scheme, which was implemented in early 2022. As households entering MTR must qualify for social housing, the increase in the income threshold for social housing that came into effect on 1 January 2023 has also opened the scheme up to more borrowers. The main changes to the scheme will result in more people being able to benefit from the scheme, which has been amended to reflect current housing market conditions and most up-to-date research on those in long term mortgage arrears.
Another action following the scheme review is to consider the policy options around the scheme and how the scheme might be funded to ensure its continued operation as well as value for money for the State. In line with this Action, the current Pilot scheme with Home for Life has been terminated from 25 May and a new iteration of the scheme will be launched. As part of this new iteration, The Housing Agency, on behalf of my Department, will run an Expressions of Interest (EOI) process to invite entities from both the private and AHB sector to get involved in the provision of Mortgage to Rent at scale.
The Department recognises that Home for Life has approximately 400 active cases in the scheme and has put arrangements in place for Home for Life to complete as many of these cases as possible. Cases that are assigned to AHBs are not affected by the termination of the pilot and the issuing of the EOI.
Question No. 385 answered with Question No. 384.