Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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330. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of homes, including family homes, repossessed in each of the past five years for which figures are available; the number of persons and families made homeless as a result of such court actions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43741/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions, which include the provision of information on the courts system.

However, I have had inquiries made and the Courts Service has informed my officials that it is not in a position to provide the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the number of homes, including family homes, repossessed in each of the five years and the number of persons and families made homeless as a result of such court actions.  In order to be of assistance to the Deputy, the Courts Service has instead provided details of the number of Possession Orders granted in the past five years.

Circuit Court:

The following Tables A and B provide details of the number of Possession Orders granted by the Circuit Court in the years 2013 to 2017. For 2013 and from January to August 2014 (Table A) cases were categorised as being "Residential" or "Non-Residential". From September 2014 (Table B) the categorisation changed to "Primary Home", "Buy to Let" or "Other/Unknown". The Courts Service has advised that data in relation to Possession Orders for 2018 to date is not yet available. 

TABLE A

TABLE  B

The Deputy should note that under section 101 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009, all applications for repossession in cases of ‘housing loan’ mortgages created after 1 December 2009 must be made in the Circuit Court. In addition, under section 3 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013, with effect from 31 July 2013, all applications for repossession in cases of mortgages created before 1 December 2009 on private residences or family homes must also be made in the Circuit Court.

As the figures above show, there has been a decline in the number of Possession Orders granted over the period concerned. At its peak in 2015 a total of 918 Possession Orders were granted in respect of primary homes – 77 per month. In 2017, this figure had dropped to 733 Possession Orders – 61 per month. This equates to a drop of over 20% in the three year period. I might also add that the issue of a possession order does not, in many cases, lead to a loss of ownership of the family home and can be a catalyst for a solution between lender and homeowner which will see them retaining possession of the home. The introduction of the Abhaile Scheme, from 2016, has provided help to over 10,000 households in serious mortgage arrears, most of whom are in the most serious category of arrears (exceeding 720 days), and has been a contributing factor to the decrease in Possession Orders being granted.

High Court:

The Courts Service has also indicated that High Court statistics in relation to the number of Possession Orders granted do not distinguish between Buy to Let and Private Dwelling. The number of High Court Possession Orders granted in the years 2013 to 2 March 2018 is set out in the table.

TABLE C

Please note that the Courts Service Annual Report figures for 2014 and 2015 included Well Charging Orders in addition to Possession Orders.

I should add that the Government recently approved the drafting of the Courts and Land and Conveyancing Law Reform (Amendment) Bill 2018, which will provide further protections for people in mortgage difficulties, particularly those people who, for whatever reason, have been unable to avail of a Personal Insolvency Arrangement. It is expected that the Bill will be published during the current session.

This Government’s paramount objective in the context of resolving the mortgage arrears problem is to keep borrowers in their homes wherever feasible. We consider that repossession of private residences is a last resort when all other options have failed. In that context, I would urge all borrowers in mortgage arrears to contact their lender with a view to engaging in an effort to reach a sustainable solution which will allow them to stay in their homes.