Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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521. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details in tabular form, by county and by year, of the number of applications for the mortgage to rent scheme which have been received since the scheme was introduced; the number that have been successful; the number that have been assessed by housing associations; the names of those associations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35861/14]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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522. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the numbers of applications by year and by county for the mortgage to rent scheme that were refused because of the rural location of the property in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35864/14]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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523. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details in tabular form, by county and by year, of the number of applications for the mortgage to rent scheme which were unsuccessful because of the occupancy conditions attached to the scheme in respect of the size of dwelling and number of persons residing in the property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35868/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 521 to 523, inclusive, together.

There are currently two mortgage-to-rent schemes in operation through my Department. A scheme exists whereby a local authority (LA) can acquire ownership of properties with unsustainable local authority mortgages thus enabling the household to remain in their home as a social housing tenant (LA- mortgage-to-rent). The other scheme provides for an Approved Housing Body (AHB) to acquire ownership of a property with an unsustainable private mortgage which also enables the household to remain in their home as a social housing tenant (AHB-mortgage-to-rent). Both schemes are designed to assist families with income difficulties whose mortgages are now unsustainable, and where there is little or no prospect of a significant change in circumstances in the foreseeable future.

On foot of the recommendations of the Keane Report on mortgage arrears the Government launched the AHB-mortgage-to-rent scheme on a pilot basis in February 2012 and extended it nationally in June 2012. The scheme is currently in operation and continues to accept applications from lending institutions.

To be eligible for the AHB-mortgage-to-rent scheme a household must have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable under the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process, agree to the voluntary surrender of their home, be in negative equity, and be deemed eligible for social housing in accordance with section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. There is a cap on the value of the property which applies but the location of the property is not a criterion for inclusion or exclusion to the scheme. Notwithstanding this, approved housing bodies must treat each case on its merits and issues such as the operational presence of the AHB or the market rent available may impact on its decision.

A total of 2,496 cases have been submitted to date. 31 of these cases are currently being progressed under revised procedures introduced to improve the process. Of the other 2,465 cases submitted, 1,003 were ineligible or terminated during the process, of which 258 cases were not progressed because the household in question was deemed to be over or under accommodated. Agreement on the sale could not be agreed on a further 50 cases. Of the remaining cases submitted, 48 have been completed, 1,221 are currently with the lenders who are seeking the consent of borrowers to share information and for the carrying out of an independent valuation, and the remaining 143 are actively being progressed. The following table breaks down the 2,465 submissions made by local authority and by status.