Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 500: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will provide full details of the scheme whereby local authorities can lend directly to persons who are purchasing an affordable home from that authority. [18055/09]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Housing loans are provided by local authorities for those who wish to build or purchase their own home, ncluding affordable housing purchasers, but cannot access finance from private institutions. To ensure effective targeting of resources to support households most in need, income limits are applied, distinguishing between single and dual income households. A maximum loan limit is also applied and local authorities, in assessing loan applications, take account of the household's ability to finance the loan based on their net household income.

I recently introduced new regulations to underpin local authority lending. The Housing (Local Authority Loans) Regulations 2009 replace the previous regulations, providing for a new loan limit of €220,000 and a maximum income of €75,000 in the case of joint applicants and €50,000 for single applicants. The Regulations also provide for the introduction of a formal credit policy to ensure prudence and consistency of approach for all local authority mortgage lending.