Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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255. To ask the Minister for Finance if new mortgage rules apply to a person who currently has mortgage approval but has not yet drawn down their mortgage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4685/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank has advised me that a borrower who has mortgage approval in principle, supported by a full credit assessment, prior to the effective date of the new macro prudential regulations on residential mortgage lending, will not be impacted by these regulations for the duration of the mortgage approval.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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256. To ask the Minister for Finance his views that it is an anomaly that the 20% minium deposit rule applies to non-first-time buyers with equity in their home who wish to trade up but does not apply to someone in negative equity who similarly wishes to purchase a new home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4686/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank is responsible for formulating and implementing macro prudential policy. In the context of negative equity, the Central Bank considers that it is necessary to provide for an exemption for households in such a situation to avoid unduly limiting mobility for such borrowers. The Central Bank has indicated that there is currently little new lending to such borrowers (less than 300 mortgages were issued by the main banks to borrowers in negative equity in 2014).

Accordingly, the Central Bank do not consider it necessary at this time, for macro-prudential purposes, to introduce a special Loan to Value regime for such borrowers. However, if unintended consequences or adverse behaviour is observed as a consequence of this exemption, or for any other reason it appears appropriate, the Central Bank has indicated that it reserves the right to amend the exemption accordingly. As with all these macro prudential limits, this does not preclude a lender from applying stricter lending standards than contained in the Regulations.