Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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276. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the timeframe involved for a revision of shared ownership; and if retrospective issues are being considered. [8591/17]

Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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277. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of repossessed shared ownership houses in County Kildare, including details of any which have been sold by local authorities since 2013; and the amount of moneys recouped by these sales, in tabular form. [8592/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 276 and 277 together.

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.

An innovative Shared Ownership Restructuring Option has been available to Shared Ownership borrowers from 1 April 2016. This new restructuring option for SO borrowers involves rolling up all outstanding debt under a SO arrangement into a single annuity loan-i.e. the new restructured loan principal will comprise any outstanding annuity loan balance, rental equity balance, plus any arrears - with an all-sums-owing mortgage charge applying to the property. The term of the annuity loan will be determined by the amount of the monthly repayment deemed to be affordable and sustainable for each SO borrower. This restructuring option allows the borrower to have a regularised, restructured repayment solution which is more easily understood. The restructuring option can lead to full home ownership for the borrower and as such allows for up/down sizing to suit household needs. This arrangement may be of particular benefit to those SO borrowers who are nearing the end of their annuity term but who have not made sufficient provision for the repayment of their rental equity balance. The option may not be appropriate in all cases. For example, in some instances, continuing with the current SO arrangement may be the best option for both the SO borrower and the local authority, or in other cases where the outstanding debt may not be sustainable for the borrower in the long-term, the Local Authority Mortgage to Rent (LAMTR) option might ultimately be the appropriate solution.

Details on the measures available to borrowers with Shared Ownership arrangements are available 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: -

.

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.