Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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347. To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which he remains satisfied that first time home buyers are not priced out of the market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1969/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, overall responsibility for housing policy rests in the first instance with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.  The Government, however, is aware of the significant issues facing the housing market and it is committed to restoring the housing market to a sustainable equilibrium by seeking to increase the supply of housing to meet growing demand.  In particular, it has set a target of ensuring that 25,000 new houses are built each year by 2020. In order to deliver on this ambitious target, the "Rebuilding Ireland, Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness" adopts a whole of government response with 84 actionable measures across five key pillars, namely Address Homelessness, Accelerate Social Housing, Build More Homes, Improve the Rental Sector, and Utilise Existing Housing. The measures set out in the Action Plan should help to stimulate supply by streamlining the planning system, removing infrastructure blockages and supporting the delivery of affordable housing.

There have also been certain initiatives in relation to taxation policy and financial macro prudential policy which will assist this overall effort.  For example, the Help-to-Buy initiative should help alleviate some of the specific challenges faced by first time buyers in accessing the housing market. The Help-to-Buy initiative has been designed within the context of Rebuilding Ireland to provide immediate and targeted support for first time buyers in meeting their deposit requirements and encouraging the construction of new housing units whilst the structural measures announced in the Action Plan are being rolled out. My Department will also commission an independent impact assessment of the Help-to-Buy initiative to determine its general impact. This report will be completed by September 2017, prior to Budget 2018.  Also, the recent Central Bank changes residential mortgage lending macro prudential changes will assist households, in particular first time buyers, which are seeking a mortgage to purchase a home.  In general, first time buyers will now require a minimum deposit of 10 per cent of the entire value of the property, with the loan-to-value (LTV) ceiling set at 90 per cent. This replaces the previous situation whereby a deposit of 10 per cent was required on the first €220,000 of the price of a property and 20 per cent on any balance above €220,000.