Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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154. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to support persons who find themselves needing to buy a home but who have lost their first-time buyer status. [11985/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Affordable Housing Act 2021, the first ever standalone affordable housing legislation, established a basis for four new affordable housing measures. These measures will deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to put affordability at the heart of the housing system and prioritise the increased supply of affordable homes through (1) delivering affordable homes on local authority lands, (2) the introduction of a new form of tenure in Cost Rental, (3) a First Home shared equity scheme and (4) expanding Part V planning requirements to increase the 10% contribution requirement to 20% and to apply it to cost rental as well as social and affordable housing.

The Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme will support eligible purchasers of Local Authority-delivered new homes by bridging the gap between the market value of the home and the combined value of the buyer's mortgage and deposit. Regulations setting out the detailed eligibility criteria for the scheme are at an advanced stage and will be issued in the coming weeks.

 The First Home shared equity scheme, under Part 4 of the Affordable Housing Act, will support eligible buyers purchasing newly constructed homes on the private market. This scheme will be available at a national level and will incorporate regional price caps reflecting median house price sales. Confirmation of the final details of this scheme is ongoing in conjunction with the relevant stakeholders and it is anticipated that the First Home scheme will be available for applications in the second half of this year. This initiative is being designed to ensure support is provided to those that, because of the current income levels, cannot secure a sufficient mortgage to meet the cost of a modest newly constructed home in their preferred location.

To further support affordability constrained households to purchase a home, the Local Authority Home Loan scheme commenced on 4 January 2022. The Local Authority Home Loan Scheme incorporates a lower interest rate, higher income eligibility thresholds for single applicants in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow (increasing from €50,000 to €65,000), and more flexibility on house size. The loan can be used for new and second-hand properties, or for self-builds with a maximum value of 90% of market value of a residential property. The maximum market values are €320,000 in the counties Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow, and €250,000 in the rest of the country.

While most affordable purchase measures are primarily targeted at first-time buyers, the Housing for All strategy explicitly provides for the Fresh Start principle. The Fresh Start principle extends the supports available under both affordable purchase schemes and the Local Authority Home Loan scheme to applicants who are divorced, legally separated, or where the relationship has ended and where they retain no beneficial interest in a home. The Fresh Start principle will also apply to those who have previously purchased a residential property but have been divested of this through personal insolvency or bankruptcy arrangement, proceedings or other legal process.