Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 June 2018
252. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of home loans applied for; the number of home loans drawn down under the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme for each local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27182/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra256. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of Rebuilding Ireland home loans approved; the number of loans drawn down; the average loan approved; the amount approved; the draw down; and the number of loan applications rejected in each of the months since the scheme was introduced in tabular form. [27198/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra273. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of Rebuilding Ireland home loan applications received from each county in tabular form; the average length of time taken to process these applications; the percentage of loans approved; the average length of time to issue approval; the number of loan applications refused; the average time taken to process same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27333/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 252, 256 and 273 together.
As 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 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.
However, 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: http://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 valid loan applications that are made to the local authorities and makes recommendations to the authorities as to whether loans should be offered to applicants.
I have asked the Agency to centrally compile figures of the numbers of applications that it has assessed and the most recent figures, as at the end of May, indicate that the Agency had received a total of 1,499 applications for assessment from local authorities. This was made up of 540 applications from Cork, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow and 619 applications from Dublin. There were 340 applications received from counties outside those listed.
Of the 1,499 applications received, 1,150 were deemed to be valid. Of these valid applications, 876 had been assessed and 52% of these had been recommended for approval. The average turnaround time for applications underwritten by the Housing Agency at the end of May was 22 calendar days.
Each local authority must have in place a credit committee and it is a matter for the committee to make the decision on applications for loans, in accordance with the regulations, having regard to the recommendations made by the Housing Agency.
With regard to the values of the loans approved to date, figures are not available concerning the breakdown of amounts approved in the manner referred to. However, the Housing Agency has advised that the average loan amount for the 458 applications recommended for approval by the end of May was €189,133.
