Results 1,561-1,580 of 2,156 for speaker:John Cummins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: Absolutely. I have a couple of follow-on questions. The Housing Agency stated in its submission that it is "assisting the Department in reviewing the structure and operation of [the] CALF [scheme]". Will the representatives elaborate on that? What changes are being considered? An updated repair and leasing scheme, which has been massively successful in Waterford, is mentioned in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: The Housing Agency is looking at the limit.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: Okay. That is a consideration, especially in urban settings. The Housing Agency referenced the shared equity scheme. Is 1 July a realistic timeline in that space?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: Is that also a realistic timeline for the banks?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: I allowed the Senator some latitude because we have time. It is my turn to put questions and it is not that I am using the position to make it my turn. The Rebuilding Ireland home loan is now the local authority home loan and it is an excellent product that provides finance to enable people to get their foot on the ladder. Perhaps the witnesses might correct me but I believe there was a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: Could we take the individual out of it and speak about the general policy when it comes to wage subsidy? Many people are in that bracket who have been supported throughout the pandemic but the employer is no longer in receipt of a wage subsidy. This affects a host of people. Will they potentially miss an affordable purchase scheme in the second half of this year as a result? It is where I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: Waterford has one of three schemes approved for turnkey affordable purchase. They were some of the first in the country in terms of a joint venture with a developer. They are going to be coming on stream and the application process will open soon. I do not want somebody who meets all of the criteria to unfortunately miss out as a result of his or her employer having been on a wage subsidy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: I thank Mr. Jordan. I have a couple of further questions. Mr. O'Leary mentioned in regard to student accommodation that he has not had full sight of the plan for the technological universities. It has been announced that the intention of the Government is to be in that space. In my county of Waterford, plans in that regard are very much ready to roll in the context of the new South East...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: I referred to the three schemes in Waterford, but if I take the point more generally in terms of turnkey affordable purchase across the board, Cork has sought expressions of interest from developers to engage with it in order to provide units. There is a difficulty there with the structure. We want to try to de-risk the State's involvement in one sense because of what happened in the past...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: Given the type of project that is being delivered here, and that ultimately the type of people we are looking at are those who qualify for affordable purchase, could Mr. O'Leary's organisation be involved. It is a local authority affordable purchase scheme, albeit that it is being delivered by the market.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: Perhaps it is something that could be considered. We are in the early days of this and it is a moveable feast. As has been said, we are moving in terms of the risk element involved. In order for us to meet our targets, this is going to become an issue for many local authorities. If we can develop some process in order to lower the finance, the purchaser will ultimately get the unit at a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: That is understood.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: Of course not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: Six months was stipulated, but three months was the point I was making. Therefore, three months would not be as much of a problem as six months.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: I thought it was the third.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: I will bring Deputy Ó Broin back in, but I just wished to break it up a bit.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: On the serviced site piece and in terms of the envelope of funding available, I am conscious that the further into the year we go, the more difficult it will be to spend the envelope. Many counties, including Waterford, have a desire to have serviced sites on the edges of rural towns and villages. One would be inundated if such a scheme were opened in the morning. The cities, about which I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: I am sure his colleague, Deputy Cullinane, would be disappointed to hear him refer to Waterford as a town when, in fact, it is a city. It was voted the best city in Ireland to live in. I should know this. It is welcome that the cities fund is open. We have the best of both worlds. We can benefit from the rural and urban parts. On the home loan piece, not to reopen the subject I asked...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: On the shared equity scheme, we said 1 July was an accurate timescale to work towards. When the scheme was first announced, the maximum purchase prices were at a certain level. Obviously, some of them have increased, particularly, as Mr. Baneham said, outside Dublin. There was a cap of €250,000 placed on Waterford. When one looks at the median house price data from the Central...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion (22 Mar 2022)

John Cummins: For instance, the price range for a three-bedroom semi-detached house, which is what we are talking about, a starter home for families, in Waterford is €275,000 to €300,000. It would not make sense to launch a scheme on 1 July to allow someone to purchase and have an equity share in a property when there is no property available at that purchase price. I have two final...