Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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464. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to allow county council mortgage holders who are first-time buyers and in the early stages of their mortgage to avail of the same rates as the first time buyers on the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme. [18986/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Following a review of the two existing local authority home loan schemes, the House Purchase Loan and the Home Choice Loan, a new loan offering known as the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan was introduced, with effect from 1 February 2018. The new loan enables credit-worthy first-time buyers to access sustainable mortgage lending to purchase new or second-hand properties in a suitable price range. The low rate of fixed interest associated with the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan provides first-time buyers with access to mortgage finance that they may not have otherwise been able to afford at a higher interest rate.

As with previous local authority house purchase loan finance, the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan is available to first-time buyers only. This is to ensure the effective targeting of limited resources and there is no change in this regard.

The low interest rates for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan have been secured through the raising of €200 million by the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) on a fixed-rate basis for periods out to thirty years' maturity. Based on the pricing achieved, local authorities can offer a first tranche of fixed-rate annuity finance to eligible borrowers at rates of 2.0% and 2.25% per annum, for terms of up to 25 and 30 years respectively, up to an aggregate maximum of €200 million.

As such, these conditions are solely available to new applicants under the specific terms and conditions of the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan. Existing local authority mortgage holders remain subject to the terms and conditions of their loans as originally agreed at the point of drawdown of their individual loans.