Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

380. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 46 of 12 March 2014, the number of households that have availed of the mortgage to rent scheme to date; and the local authority areas in which households are now availing of the mortgage to rent scheme. [24194/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

On foot of the recommendations of the Keane Report on mortgage arrears the Government launched a Mortgage to Rent scheme on a pilot basis in February 2012. This scheme was extended nationally in June 2012, targeting those low income families whose mortgage situation is unsustainable and where there is little or no prospect of a significant change in circumstances in the foreseeable future. The Scheme ensures that the family remains in their home, while ownership is transferred to an approved housing body who in turn rents it to the original owners. Eligibility requirements are in line with other forms of social housing support.

To date, 2,458 cases have been put forward by the lenders and, of these, 1,458 are being progressed with a total of 798 being approved for customer contact.

40 cases are completed with households paying a differential rent to an approved housing body; a breakdown by local authority area is set out in the table below. A further 72 areas have had the sale agreed and 27 are under offer. An additional 98 are at the valuation stage in the process.

A total of 235 applications have been received from applicants for Social Housing Support inclusive of the cases above. Of these, 207 have qualified for Social Housing Support, while 6 have not; the remaining 22 applications are awaiting assessment.

A total of 1,000 cases were deemed ineligible (379) or terminated (621) during the Mortgage to Rent Scheme process for various reasons including the borrower not meeting the criteria of the scheme, the borrower declining the scheme, lender withdrawing the offer of the scheme due to a change in circumstances of the borrower, local authority not having a need for the property in the particular area or an over concentration of social housing in the area already or more recently the borrower has been given an alternative option due to the introduction of additional measures. An additional 41 cases have failed to agree a sale price or the condition of the property did not allow for the sale to proceed.

The mortgage to rent option for local authority borrowers in arrears was piloted in two local authority areas, namely Westmeath County Council and Dublin City Council. The scheme was rolled out nationally in February 2014 .

To date, 40 households have availed of the Mortgage to Rent scheme. The breakdown, by local authority area, is set out in the following table.

Table – Mortgage to Rent areas completed by local authority area