Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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1145. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to revise the mortgage-to-rent income criteria to exclude overtime worked; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1016/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme introduced in 2012 is targeted at those households in mortgage arrears who are eligible for social housing support whose mortgage is unsustainable and who have very limited options, if any, to meet their long-term housing needs themselves. One of the main criteria underpinning the MTR scheme is that it is a social housing option and therefore is targeted at those borrowers in arrears who qualify for social housing support as prescribed by the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011.

It is a matter for individual housing authorities to assess a household's income for social housing support eligibility in accordance with the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, which prescribe maximum net income limits for each housing authority, in different bands according to the area, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy.

The income bands and the authority area assigned to each band are based on an assessment of the income needed to provide for a household's basic needs, plus a comparative analysis of the local rental cost of housing accommodation across the country. As part of the broader social housing reform agenda, a review of income eligibility for social housing supports is underway. The Housing Agency is continuing to carry out the detailed statistical work, which will underpin this review on behalf of my Department. The review will obviously have regard to current initiatives being brought forward in terms of affordability and cost rental and will be completed when the impacts of these parallel initiatives have been considered.