Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023
667. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a person qualifies for the affordable housing scheme in cases in which the lending institution refuses a mortgage to an applicant that has cystic fibrosis. [48392/23]
View answerThe Local Authority Home Loan is a Government-backed mortgage for creditworthy applicants who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. It has been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022 for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build.
Eligibility is subject to submission of a complete Local Authority Home Loan application form and confirmation by the local authority. As part of the eligibility criteria, applicant(s) of the Local Authority Home Loan must have received insufficient offers of finance from two regulated financial providers to apply. Further information on the scheme is available on the dedicated website https://localauthorityhomeloan.ie/.
The final decision on Local Authority Home Loan applications is a matter for the relevant local authority. 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.
The local authority Mortgage Protection Insurance (MPI) scheme has applied to all house purchase loans approved by local authorities after 1 July 1986, including the Local Authority Home Loan introduced on 4 January 2022.
One of the conditions of local authority lending is that it is obligatory for all local authority borrowers who meet the eligibility criteria to join the local authority MPI scheme. Each application for MPI under the scheme is evaluated on a case by case basis. A local authority housing loan applicant, who is not eligible for the local authority MPI scheme, must source a suitable comparable individual MPI policy from the market before drawing down a Local Authority Home Loan.
With the current life only MPI group scheme, no medical conditions are automatically excluded. However, certain chronic medical conditions may require that an application is assessed by the insurance companies underwriters before a decision on providing life cover is made. Therefore, depending on the specifics of the case, applicants with certain medical conditions may not obtain cover under the local authority MPI. However, if these applicants can get a comparable life only cover from the market then they can proceed with their loan drawdown.
