Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 1014: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the plans in place to extend the granting of planning permission period, in view of applicants finding themselves in difficulty in accessing finance from banks to secure mortgage applications; the action he will take to ensure banks help applicants to secure mortgages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34539/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, published in June 2009, provides an amendment to section 42 of the Planning and Development Acts, which currently provides that the duration of a planning permission must be extended, subject to certain conditions, where substantial works have been carried out before the expiration of the original permission. The proposed amendment provides for the extension of permission (for a period of up to 5 years) in circumstances where substantial works have not been carried out, but there are commercial, economic or technical considerations, beyond the control of the applicant, which substantially militated against either the commencement of development or the carrying out of substantial works.

While the Government has been careful to ensure that the process of correction in the housing market is not artificially interfered with, a number of steps have been taken to ensure that in so far as possible mortgage finance is available to households who want to buy or build houses at this time. In this regard, the Government announced the introduction of a new mortgage scheme in the context of Budget 2009. The Home Choice Loan has been introduced through the local government system, backed by loan finance raised by the Housing Finance Agency. Home Choice Loan is now available to first time buyers of new houses or self-builds, subject to a maximum loan of €285,000 or maximum Loan To Value (LTV) of 92% (whichever is the lesser) and income thresholds. The scheme commenced on 1 January 2009.

In addition, the Government's recapitalisation of Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland included a Credit Package under which the banks committed to, amongst other things, providing an additional 30% capacity for lending to first time buyers in 2009. The banks also committed to actively promote mortgage lending at competitive rates with increased transparency on the criteria to be met.