Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

690. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures being taken to assist families, such as a person (details supplied), that are stuck in properties in negative equity; the schemes available for them to avail of; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7394/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A key aim of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness is to increase housing supply, across all tenures, to achieve total housing output of at least 25,000 homes per year by 2020 and to deliver housing at more affordable price points. However, the range of supports put in place under the Plan is primarily focused on helping those households most in need of support in meeting their housing costs and, therefore, social housing and addressing homelessness have been the key priorities.

Similarly, insofar as mortgage holders are concerned, the priority has been to provide supports for those borrowers experiencing most difficulty in meeting their mortgage repayments. In that regard, I refer to the reply to Question No. 149 to the Minister for Finance on today's Order Paper. In addition, for those homeowners whose mortgage position is unsustainable, there are two Mortgage to Rent schemes in place, one for homeowners with mortgages from a private financial institutions and the second for those with a local authority mortgage, under which an Approved Housing Body or the relevant local authority can take over ownership of the home, while the household is allowed to remain in their home as a social housing tenant.