Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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251. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of properties which have been successfully purchased through the mortgage to rent scheme since it first launched in 2012, by county, in tabular form; if he will provide these data under both the approved housing body mortgage to rent scheme and the local authority mortgage to rent scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22018/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There are currently two Mortgage to Rent (MTR) schemes funded by my Department. A scheme exists whereby a local authority (LA) can acquire ownership of properties with unsustainable local authority mortgages, thus enabling the household to remain in their home as a social housing tenant (LA-Mortgage-to-Rent). The other scheme provides for an Approved Housing Body (AHB) to acquire ownership of a property with an unsustainable private mortgage, which also enables the household to remain in their home as a social housing tenant (AHB-Mortgage-to-Rent). Both schemes assist families with income difficulties whose mortgages are unsustainable, and where there is little or no prospect of a significant change in circumstances in the foreseeable future. Both schemes are part of the overall suite of social housing options and an important part of the mortgage arrears resolution process.

Information in relation to LA-Mortgage-to-Rent scheme transactions during its pilot phase in Dublin City Council and Westmeath County Council in 2013 and annual transactions, broken down by local authority, following national roll out of the scheme in 2014, is available on my Department’s website at the following link: 

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Since the introduction of the Mortgage to Rent (MTR) Scheme for borrowers of private commercial lending institutions in 2012, a total of 3,672 cases have been submitted under the scheme to the end of March 2017.  Of the 3,672 cases submitted, 2,816 were ineligible or terminated during the process.  Of the remaining cases submitted, 235 have been completed and the remaining 621 are being actively progressed.

The Housing Agency publishes, on a quarterly basis, detailed statistical information on the operation of the MTR scheme, including the number of cases that have been terminated and the reasons for same and a breakdown of cases per County.  This information is available on the Agency's website at the following link:

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I published a Review of the Mortgage to Rent Scheme for borrowers of commercial private lending institutions on 8 February 2017 which contains a number of actions to make the MTR process quicker, more transparent, easier to navigate for borrowers and ultimately, more accessible to more households in mortgage distress.  The Review is available on the Rebuilding Ireland website at the following link: .

My Department and the Housing Agency have begun implementing each of the actions set out in the Review and I am confident that these changes will make a significant impact to those households who can benefit from access to the scheme.