Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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510. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of repossessed shared ownership houses, including details of any which have been sold by local authorities since 2013 on a county by county basis and the moneys recouped by these sales, in tabular form. [1476/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Information in relation to local authority repossessions is available on my Department's website at the following link:

under the heading “Local authority repossessions”. This data is not broken down by loan type.

My Department provides capital funding to support local authorities in transferring into permanent social housing stock, house/apartments that were financed using a local authority home loan and which are now either repossessed, voluntarily surrendered or abandoned. It is a matter for local authorities to validate the suitability of these units for social housing in terms of unit type, location and meeting local need. Where the local authority determines any of these units as being not suitable for social housing, the local authority may offer these units for sale on the open market. My Department does not currently hold information on the units that fall into this category.

My Department, together with the Housing Agency, the Housing Finance Agency and local authorities, has considered the affordability issues facing some borrowers who purchased properties under the Shared Ownership (SO) schemes and devised a more affordable long-term path towards full home ownership. Indeed, a range of measures have already been taken to reduce the monthly repayments of these borrowers. Details on these measures are available to borrowers from their local authority.

Overall, local authority borrowers are encouraged to engage with their local authority at the earliest opportunity if they are having difficulty making the repayments on their Shared Ownership arrangement. Information in relation to local authority mortgage arrears, the local authority mortgage arrears resolution process (MARP) and the help available to borrowers is also available on my Department's website at the following link: