Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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11. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his Department's involvement in reforming or designing a successor to the mortgage to rent scheme with the Department of Finance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8836/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, I recently published the Review of the Mortgage to Rent Scheme. The Review represents the completion of an early action in the Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. It involved broad consultation, including with the Department of Finance, on the operation of the current scheme, which was originally developed in 2011. Arising from the Review and its recommendations, a more formal communication protocol between the lenders and borrowers is being developed; several changes to the eligibility criteria of the scheme are being made which will mean more households in rural areas, in particular, will be eligible; conveyancing, valuation and repairs process are all being refined; and a significant borrower, lender and local authority awareness raising and training programme is being initiated.

Furthermore, the key role of the ’Abhaile’ Mortgage Arrears Resolution Service, the Insolvency Service and the Money Advice and Budgetary Service (MABS) are all being harnessed as critical contributors to the successful delivery of the scheme.

I and my Department will continue to work across Government to ensure the early implementation of these actions, including the development of the pilot financing projects that look to harness alternative financing arrangements so that the scheme has increased capacity to meet the needs of more borrowers in the most serious situations of mortgage distress.