Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent)
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601. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce an affordable housing mortgage scheme to assist families in negative equity who are in accommodation which is too small for their needs in order to enable them to move to more suitable accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18613/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Currently, there are two types of house purchase loan s available from local authorities: standard annuity loans targeted at lower income first time buyers and those under the Home Choice Loan scheme which are available to qualifying middle income first time buyers. The terms and conditions governing the operation, including eligibility terms, of annuity mortgages and the Home Choice Loan are set out, most recently, under the Housing (Local Authority Loans) Regulations 2012 and under the Housing (Home Choice Loan) Regulations 2009. These are available on my Department’s website at the following link : . To ensure effective targeting of limited resources, local authority loan finance continues to be available to first time buyers only. As regards the specific scenario referred to in the question, I am aware that some homeowners who purchased properties prior to 2008 now find themselves in negative equity with a home that no longer suits their needs. Understandably, some would wish, for example, to move to a larger home. The option currently available for such buyers is to seek home loan facilities in the private sector.

The State provides a wide range of supports to assist households in meeting their housing need ranging from income support and rent supplement, provided through the Department of Social Protection, to social housing supports provided by my Department, local authorities and approved housing bodies.