Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 May 2018
262. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of Rebuilding Ireland loans that have been approved and drawn down nationally; the number of such loans that have been applied for in County Louth; the number of such loans that have been approved and or drawn down in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21759/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs with the previous local authority home loan offerings, loan applications under the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan are made directly to the local authority in whose area the property proposed for purchase is situated. My Department therefore does not directly collect information on the number of enquiries to local authorities regarding the loan or the number of loan applications received by local authorities.
As is currently the case, my Department will continue to publish information on the overall number and value of (i) local authority loan approvals and (ii) local authority loan drawdowns. Information up to Q3 2017 is available on the Department's website at the following link: www.housing.gov.ie/housing/statistics/house-prices-loans-and-profile-borrowers/local-authority-loan-activity, and this information will be updated on a quarterly basis as additional data is compiled.
The Housing Agency provides a central support service which assesses completed applications that are made to the local authorities and makes recommendations to the authorities as to whether loan offers should be made to applicants. I have asked the Agency to centrally compile figures of the numbers of applications that it has assessed on a national basis. To the end of April, it had received a total of 660 valid applications for assessment from local authorities. Of these, 479 had been assessed, of which 46% of these were recommended for approval.
It is then a matter for the relevant local authority credit committee to ultimately determine whether a loan application is approved, having regard to the Agency's recommendation and any other relevant factors.
