Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

591. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the action he plans to take in circumstances in which individuals have been refused a loan under the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme due to the fact that they were marginally over the threshold; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27648/18]

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

It continues to be the case under the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, which was introduced on 1 February 2018, as with the previous local authority House Purchase Loan, that single applicants applying for the loan must not be earning more than €50,000 gross per annum and the combined income of joint applicants must not be greater than €75,000 gross per annum. This is to ensure the effective targeting of limited resources.

I have no plans to review these income limits at present.

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

592. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the timeframe for the publication of the review of the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27649/18]

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

Following the initial launch and roll-out of the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan (RIHL) in February, I met with the Chief Executives of the two main agencies involved in the implementation of the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, the Housing Agency and the Housing Finance Agency, in April as part of my Department's ongoing oversight and monitoring of the new loan scheme and I requested that they address a number of issues to improve the operation of the scheme.

On foot of this engagement, some minor clarifying amendments have been made to the application form, while a number of additional FAQs have been added to the dedicated Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan website in order to further clarify issues for potential applicants. The online calculator on this website has also been amended in order to take the cost of mortgage protection insurance into account. This will therefore give potential applicants a clearer indication of the amount that they could be eligible to borrow under the scheme.

My Department will continue to monitor the uptake and responses to the loan scheme, clarifying any issues that arise, as necessary. I have not asked for a formal review of the scheme at this stage, nor do I believe that one is necessary, given the positive response to it to date. This is evident from the almost 1,500 loan applications submitted by local authorities to the Housing Agency, for assessment, as of the end of May.