Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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27. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the position regrading the pilot mortgage to rent scheme involving private equity firms including the lease arrangements in place; the level of security of tenure provided for home owners and tenants; and if it is designed to meet the needs of distressed mortgage holders who do not qualify for social housing. [24805/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The review of the Mortgage to Rent scheme published in February 2017, concluded that the current financial model of the Mortgage to Rent scheme may not, in its current configuration, be capable of delivering the scale of successful cases that could benefit from the scheme over time.

In order to test the operability of alternative funding models for the scheme, the Housing Agency is working with a number of financial entities who have come forward with an interest in working with the Mortgage to Rent scheme to progress a number of pilot alternative long-term lease arrangements.  In advance of these pilots, a targeted market testing exercise was undertaken by the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA), to test the suitability of the proposed enhanced leasing arrangements to ascertain if they would be viable for a mortgage to rent cohort, taking account of the necessity to provide a long-term stable solution for eligible households.  The comments received from interested parties are being reviewed by my Department and the Housing Agency. 

The next step is to issue a formal call for Expressions of Interest from institutions interested in taking part in the pilot operating models. It is anticipated that the Housing Agency will manage the evaluation process on behalf of my Department and make recommendations on the make-up of the pilots. The drafting of the content of the Expression of Interest is currently underway.

The Mortgage to Rent scheme is a social housing option, and therefore, is only open to borrowers who qualify for social housing support. The recently launched Mortgage Arrears Resolution Service, Abhaile, is available is available to assist borrowers to explore their options.  The Abhaile communications campaign currently underway is aimed primarily at securing engagement and solutions for those in the longest arrears and who are not engaging with their lender and seeks to overcome the fear and anxiety associated with such circumstances, and to ensure that borrowers are made aware of the range of supports available to them.