Written answers

Thursday, 31 January 2019

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Home Loan Scheme

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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258. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of open applications for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan by local authority area; the length of time applications have been open (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4896/19]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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259. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of open applications for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan that are with local authorities for processing and decision; the number of open applications that are with the Housing Agency for processing and decision; the breakdown by the time they have been with the local authority or Housing Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4897/19]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 258 and 259 together.

My Department does not collect data in relation to the numbers of open applications for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan (RIHL) that are currently with local authorities. Data is collected by my Department on a quarterly basis from local authorities with regard to the overall number and value of (i) local authority loan approvals and (ii) local authority loan drawdowns. Information up to Q3 2018, including in relation to number and value of mortgage drawdowns, is available on the Department's website at the following link: www.housing.gov.ie/housing/statistics/house-prices-loans-and-profile-borrowers/local-authority-loan-activity, and this information is updated on a quarterly basis as additional data is compiled.

Regarding the timeframes in which applications are processed by local authorities, in October 2018 my Department requested initial data on the length of time taken for the processing of applications within each local authority area. This found that it takes an average time of circa seven weeks from submitting a completed application to a local authority to receiving approval under the scheme, which is in line with the expected timeframe of 6-8 weeks as set out on the RIHL website. Approvals are valid for six months to allow applicants time to source a property to purchase.

The Housing Agency provides a central support service which assesses loan applications that are made to the local authorities for the RIHL and makes recommendations to the authorities as to whether loans should be offered to applicants. The most recent data available from the Housing Agency with regards to its assessment process indicated that as of the end of December 2018, a total of 61 applications remained in process at that point. This is out of an overall total of 3,745 applications submitted to the Agency since the scheme commenced in February 2018.

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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260. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of persons working in the Housing Agency on applications for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4898/19]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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261. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of persons working in each local authority on applications for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4899/19]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 260 and 261 together.

The Housing Agency has indicated that it has four individuals working full time on applications for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan. The number assigned can be scaled up or down, depending on demand, to maintain a response time for returning recommendations to local authorities within 10-days.

My Department does not hold details of the number of staff assigned to individual areas of work in each local authority; this is a matter for each local authority Chief Executive.

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