Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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181. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if a review of the local authority loan system will be undertaken, with a view to making the system more accessible and effective; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16098/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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The terms and conditions governing the operation of standard annuity mortgages provided by local authorities to qualifying first time buyers are set out most recently in the Housing (Local Authority Loans) Regulations 2012. These are available on my Department’s website at the following weblink:.

The Regulations prescribe that the amount of a loan shall not exceed €200,000 or 97% of the value of the house, whichever is the lesser. Accordingly, loan applicants must pay upfront a minimum of 3% of the purchase price of their home. The Regulations are kept under constant review by my Department, in consultation with the Housing Agency and the local government sector.

In 2009, a Credit Policy was issued, in accordance with the Housing (Local Authority Loans) Regulations 2009, to all housing authorities. Decisions on all housing loan applications must be made in accordance with this statutory Credit Policy in order to ensure prudence and consistency in approaches.

All applicants must complete a housing loan application form which can be downloaded from the relevant local authority’s website. As part of the loan application procedure, the Housing Agency provides an underwriting and support service to all local authorities. This shared central service processes loan applications, carries out credit checks and issues a recommendation to the local authority on each loan application in accordance with the credit policy. The final decision on loan approval is a matter for each local authority and its credit committee on a case-by-case basis. Accordingly, the local authority issues the loan and the Housing Agency provides an underwriting and support service to the local authority during the loan application process.