Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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379. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is considering changes to the tenant purchase scheme which would allow very long-term tenants of local authority homes an opportunity of purchasing the home; the implications of the earnings requirement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11635/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Tenant Purchase Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme.

The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 provides that, as the Minister, I may set a minimum income required to purchase under the scheme. The minimum income requirement has a dual purpose - it ensures the scheme is sustainable, and the tenant purchasing the house has the financial means to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charged period.

The scheme was reviewed in 2021 in line with Programme for Government and Housing for All commitments. The Government approved a number of amendments on foot of the review and these came into effect on 1st February 2022.

The amendments include a reduction in the minimum reckonable income required from €15,000 to €12,500. This means older tenants, whose only income might be the contributory or non-contributory State pension, will be eligible to buy their homes if they have the financial means to do so. The time an applicant is required to be in receipt of social housing supports to be able to apply under the scheme has also been revised. This has been increased from one to ten years. 

Further changes to the scheme are currently being examined as part of the work on the broader social housing reform agenda.

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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380. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will revise the local authority home loan scheme in order that the purchase of a house above the value of €320,000 can be considered given the level of the house prices in the Dublin area; if the 10% deposit sought from purchasers can be increased in this context; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11644/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Local Authority Home Loan is a Government backed mortgage for those on modest or low incomes who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. It has been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022 for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build. It is the successor to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan.

With a Local Authority Home Loan you can borrow up to 90%of the market value of a residential property.  Therefore, to avail of the loan applicants must have a deposit equivalent to 10% of the market value of the property. 

The applicant(s) must provide bank or similar statements (post office, credit union, etc.) for a 12-month period immediately prior to making an application clearly showing a credible and consistent track record of savings.  The cash savings should be no less than 3% of the market value of the property.  Gifts are permissible up to 7% of the market value of the property where their source is verified.  However, the availability of the Help To Buy Scheme for first-time-buyers offers additional assistance to purchasers of newly built properties.

The maximum market values of the property that can be purchased or self-built are:

- €320,000in the counties of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow, and

- €250,000in the rest of the country.

This limits the amount that can be borrowed to no more than €288,000in the counties Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow and no more than €225,000in the rest of the country.

There are no plans at present to change the house price limits.

Further information on the scheme is available on the dedicated website localauthorityhomeloan.ie/.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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381. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the person or body whose decision it is ultimately to approve local authority mortgages; and if it is the decision of the local authority or a decision of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in each individual case [11742/22]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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382. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason that the one parent allowance payment is considered a temporary payment and is not taken into account for local authority home loans given that the payment is guaranteed for a specific number of years unless the parent's circumstances change and is therefore no more temporary than any other source of income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11743/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 381 and 382 together.

Under the Local Authority Home Loan scheme social welfare payments are not generally considered as part of repayment capacity. However, certain long-term State benefit payments may be considered as repayment income only where the main income source is of an earned nature (i.e., more than 50% of the income that forms the full Home Loan application is from a source other than State benefits payments).

Long-term State benefit payments considered will be:

- State Pension (Contributory and Non-contributory);

- Widow’s/Widower’s Pension;

- Blind Pension;

- Invalidity Pension;

- Disability Allowance.

The long-term nature of the payment must be confirmed by the Department of Social Protection or other relevant Government Department.

The One-Parent Family Payment is not taken into account as income for repayment capacity for local authority lending. As noted above, social welfare payments may only be considered where the main source of income is earned, therefore where One-Parent Family Payment is the main source of income it cannot be counted.  As the One-Parent Family Payment can also be impacted if the borrower's circumstances change it cannot be factored in as a long term source of income. 

The final decision regarding Local Authority Home Loan applications are made by the relevant Local Authority Credit Committee on a case by case basis.  Decisions on all housing loan applications must be made in accordance with the Regulations establishing the scheme and the credit policy that underpins the scheme, in order to ensure prudence and consistency in approaches in the best interests of both borrowers and the lending local authority.  My Department is not involved in individual loan decisions.

Further details can be found on localauthorityhomeloan.ie/.