Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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351. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will issue guidance on whether the help-to-buy scheme will be extended to 2023; if other schemes to assist those looking to buy a home will be rolled out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22751/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Help to Buy tax rebate is a matter for the Department of Finance, and policy responsibilities and the power to make amendments to the scheme lie with my colleague the Minister for Finance.

In terms of my own Department's work, the Affordable Housing Act 2021 lays the foundations for two affordable purchase schemes: Part 2 of the Act details the provisions for the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme, and Part 4 of the Act provides for the establishment of the First Home Affordable Purchase Shared Equity Scheme to support purchases in the private market. The full text of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 is available from the following link: www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2021/act/25/enacted/en/html

The Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme has already seen new homes made available by Local Authorities for purchase by eligible applicants. This includes locations in Kilcarbery Grange, Clondalkin South County Dublin and Dun Emer in Lusk, Fingal. Under the scheme, homes are made available at significant reductions on market prices based on an eligible buyer's purchasing ability. The Local Authority will take a percentage equity stake in the home in recognition of the State support. The scheme is primarily targeted at First Time Buyers, though Section 10 of the Affordable Housing Act sets provisions for eligibility exceptions for the scheme, which are part of the Government's 'Fresh Start' strategy as detailed in the Housing for Allstrategy. Broadly, the provisions include an exception for those who previously purchased or constructed a home with a spouse or partner but who are now divorced or legally separated or whose relationship has ended, or who have undergone an insolvency process, and who now have no financial interest in the previous home.

The First Home Scheme will help applicants to afford new homes in the private market through the use of an equity share model, similar to that employed in Local Authority Affordable Purchase. The scheme aims to support the purchase of c. 8,000 new homes in the private market in the years 2022 to 2026. First Home will only support purchases of homes within regional price ceilings, set with reference to the median prices for new homes purchased by First Time Buyers in the area, so the scheme is targeted at the lower region of the market. Like the Local Authority scheme, First Home is primarily targeted at First Time Buyers, with certain exemptions. The intention is to mirror the 'Fresh Start' provisions of the Local Authority scheme for people who are divorced or separated or whose relationship has ended, or have undergone insolvency, and who now have no financial interest in the previous home. It is intended that full details of the First Home Scheme will be available online on a dedicated website in June in advance of the scheme’s deployment shortly thereafter.

The Local Authority Home Loan scheme commenced on 4 January 2022 and now 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 maximum income threshold for joint applications is €75,000 in all counties. 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. The Local Authority Home Loan can be used to purchase a home under the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. Full details of the Local Authority Home Loan can be found online at: www.localauthorityhomeloan.ie/

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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353. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he will allocate funding to local authorities for the 2022 Voids Programme in view of the importance of this scheme in bringing back to habitable use vacant council housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22756/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. 

Since 2014, Exchequer funding has also been provided through my Department's Voids Programme to supplement the local authority funding available for the preparation of vacant properties for re-letting. The funding was introduced originally to tackle long term vacant units and is now increasingly targeted to support authority's to ensure minimal turnaround and re-let times for vacant stock.  

From 2014 to 2021, expenditure of some €261 million was recouped to local authorities under the Voids Programme which funded the return to productive use of 18,527 properties nationwide. Local authorities also provide significant funding from their own resources to address the level of vacancy within the social housing stock. 

My Department will continue to support local authorities in their work in this area. Funding allocations under the 2022 Programme will be announced shortly.