Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 181: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if persons registered on local authority housing lists and living in rented accommodation but deemed to be in need of rehousing will have their income disregarded when seeking rehousing by the local authority or seeking annuity or other local authority loans for the purpose of building a home or house for themselves; if those surrendering their local authority homes to the local authority will have their income, if excessive, disregarded when applying for a local authority home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16835/05]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Local authorities are responsible, under the Housing Act 1988, for assessing housing needs in accordance with their scheme of letting priorities. There is no general income threshold set by my Department for local authority housing. In making the assessment of housing need, local authorities have regard, inter alia, to the income and family circumstances of the applicant. Persons who are, in the opinion of the local authority, unable to provide housing from their own resources, are eligible for local authority housing.

Housing loans are provided by local authorities for those who wish to build or purchase their own home but cannot access finance from private institutions. To ensure effective targeting of resources to support households most in need, income limits are applied. The income limits distinguish between single earning households and those with two incomes, but do not take account of family size. Importantly, in assessing applicants for loans, local authorities take account of the household's ability to finance the loan based on their net household income.

Approved applicants for local authority housing, and tenants and tenant purchasers of local authority dwellings, and tenants, for more than one year, of capital loan and subsidy scheme housing surrendering their dwellings are exempt from the above income eligibility limit requirements for house purchase loans.