Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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537. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the operation of the mortgage to rent scheme to date, including plans to expand the scheme; the number of home owners in mortgage arrears who have availed of the scheme, by county; and the number who he estimates could qualify for the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27229/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Government has committed to taking decisive action to address the mortgage arrears challenge; to ensure that a full range of options is available to distressed borrowers; and to keep as many people in their homes as possible. The Approved Housing Body (AHB) Mortgage to Rent Scheme is now properly established as part of the overall suite of social housing options and an important part of the arrears resolution process.

My Department has been involved in ongoing discussions with Approved Housing Bodies, Financial Institutions and the Housing Agency regarding the operation and progress on the AHB Mortgage to Rent Scheme since its inception. These discussions form part of an ongoing process of engagement with relevant stakeholders to remove any obstacles that may arise in the implementation of the scheme. To try to deal with some of the issues that have arisen and which can delay the process, a protocol between all stakeholders was agreed and came into operation in June 2014. Under this process, the borrower is involved from the outset and is requested to give their consent to the sharing of their full information at the start of the process. This ensures that there is no ambiguity for borrowers in the mortgage to rent process.

In addition, the package of commitments on mortgage arrears announced by Government recently includes a number of amendments to the AHB Mortgage to Rent Scheme, which will enable more properties to qualify for the scheme and make it more flexible and accessible to borrowers. The principal amendment to the scheme is to increase the valuation thresholds applicable which should enable more properties to qualify. These amendments apply across the country regardless of the location of the property and took effect from 1 July.

Since the scheme began in June 2012 to end June 2015, 104 AHB mortgage to rent transactions have negotiations completed. In total, 2,922 cases have been put forward for the scheme by lending institutions, of which 2,107 cases were deemed ineligible or terminated during the process. Agreement on the sale could not be agreed on a further 45 cases. Some reasons for transactions not progressing include ineligible applications, including the borrower not meeting the criteria of the scheme, the borrower declining the scheme, the lender withdrawing the offer of the scheme, the local authority not having a need for the property or the over concentration of social housing in the area. At the end of June 2015, 111 cases were with the lenders who are seeking the consent of borrowers to share information and for the carrying out of an independent valuation. The remaining 555 cases are actively being progressed. The following table sets out the completed cases by local authority.