Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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685. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the grants available for first-time buyers who do not qualify for the help-to-buy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43380/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The main support that has been put in place by the Government to assist first-time buyers is the Help to Buy Initiative, which is operated by the Revenue Commissioners on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Finance. As one of the policy aims of this scheme was to incentivise the construction of additional housing units, it is aimed solely at new-build and self-build properties.

While there are no grants available from my Department for this purpose, first-time buyers who are having difficulty in accessing finance through a commercial lender may be able to qualify for mortgage finance under the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan. This scheme was launched on 1 February 2018 following a review of the two existing local authority home loan schemes, the House Purchase Loan and the Home Choice Loan.

The 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 otherwise have been able to afford at a higher interest rate.

The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan is targeted at first-time buyers who wish to own their own home, have access to an adequate deposit and have the capacity to repay a mortgage, but who are unable to access a mortgage sufficient for them to purchase their first home. As with the previous local authority loan offerings, the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan is available to first-time buyers only. This is to ensure the effective targeting of limited resources.

Full details of the loan’s eligibility criteria and other information are available from the dedicated Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan website.

In addition to this, work is on-going towards increasing the availability of affordable housing in the areas of the country most affected by a lack of affordable housing supply. The Government has committed €310 million to support this programme of work, under the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF), as part of Budget 2019. In 2019 funding of €100 million will be available under the Fund with a further €142 million in 2020 and €68 million in 2021. The funding is available for key facilitating infrastructure, on local authority sites, to support the provision of affordable homes to purchase or rent.

Once the funding is awarded and the infrastructure is provided I expect delivery of affordable homes from 2019 onwards. Separately, all local authorities will now carry out an economic assessment of the requirement for affordable housing in their area, and the authorities’ capacity to deliver housing at affordable prices from their sites. Based on this analysis further local authorities may be considered for funding under the SSF.

I envisage a maximum amount of SSF funding of €50,000 per affordable home and on this basis some 6,200 affordable homes could be facilitated. In terms of the type of affordable housing that will be delivered on local authority sites it may be affordable housing for purchase, under the recently commenced provisions of Part 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, or cost rental, which is being advanced on a number of pilot sites before being rolled out more generally. Under the 2009 Act, the maximum discount is 40% of the market value of the home and the local authority takes a charge, equivalent to the discount, against the property, which the household must recoup at re-sale or during the charge period. The funding repaid by the purchaser is paid into a new Affordable Dwellings Fund which can then be used to fund more affordable housing. The scheme applies to new homes, and is targeted at single applicants earning up to €50,000 per annum or €75,000 for dual applicants.