Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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329. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if income from the working family payment can be included in calculating eligibility for housing assistance payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50069/22]

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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330. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if income received from the working family payment can be included in calculating eligibility for a family to be placed on a local authority housing list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50070/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 329 and 330 together.

Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011.

The regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority, in different bands according to the area concerned, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy.

Under the Household Means Policy, net income for social housing assessment is defined as gross household income less income tax, PRSI, Universal Social Charge and Additional Superannuation Contribution. The Policy provides for a range of income disregards, and local authorities also have discretion to decide to disregard income that is temporary, short-term or once-off in nature. All income from social insurance and social assistance payments, allowances and benefits, including Working Family Payment, is assessable.

More detail on what income is assessable and the full list of disregards is available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/fb1f2-social-housing-support-household-means-policy/

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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331. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on the inclusion of carer’s allowance in income calculations for local authority home loans. [50097/22]

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 is a successor loan to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan which was introduced in February 2018. 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.

The Local Authority Home Loan has an upper gross income limit for scheme eligibility, which takes into account all relevant household income. The income limit is €75,000 for joint applicants. It is €65,000 for individual applicants seeking to buy in the Greater Dublin Area, Cork and Galway and €50,000 in the rest of the country. The income taken into account in the eligibility assessment for the Local Authority Home Loan is taxable income, which includes carer’s allowance. This, as well as other elements of the scheme, is continually kept under review to ensure that the scheme remains relevant.

The Local Authority Home Loan has wider eligibility criteria than the previous Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, in that the income ceiling for individual applicants seeking to buy in the Greater Dublin Area, Cork and Galway was raised from €50,000 to €65,000, showing that the scheme has adapted to changing circumstances over time.

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 lending local authority.

The final decision on Local Authority Home Loan applications is a matter for the relevant local authority).

Further information can be found on the dedicated website localauthorityhomeloan.ie/

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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332. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the policy change in his Department with regard to the purchase of HAP, RAS and leased tenancies by local authorities or approved housing bodies, AHBs, in cases in which tenants are in receipt of a notice to quit; if he will provide circulars, memos and or any guidelines issued to the local authorities or AHBs in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50128/22]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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333. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide a list broken down by local authority, of all HAP and RAS tenancies bought by local authorities with the tenant in situ since the April 2022 circular allowing same to local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50130/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 332 and 333 together.

Housing for All, is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes by 2030. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency.

Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes and 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing in the period 2022-2026. Our clear focus is to increase the stock of social housing through new build projects delivered by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHB) and, with this, to reduce the numbers of social homes delivered through acquisition programmes. However, acquisitions of second hand properties for social housing fall under a number of local authority and Approved Housing Body (AHB) acquisitions programmes.

On 19 January my Department issued a circular letter to local authorities advising that social housing acquisitions by local authorities and AHB CALF acquisitions in 2022 would be focussed on a number of priority areas, as follows:

- One-bedroom units to deliver on Housing First and meet the short supply in this category;

- Other properties that allow persons/families to exit homelessness; and

- Specific housing required for/suitable for individuals with a disability or other particular priority needs;

Local authorities were also advised that limited acquisitions through the Capital Assistance Scheme will also be approved, subject to the available budget for specific vulnerable cohorts, such as housing for older people, accommodation for individuals and families who are homeless and for people with a disability.

On 20 April, a further circular letter issued to local authorities in relation to social housing acquisitions. The key purpose of this circular was to advise local authorities that I had reinstated the delegated sanction to local authorities in respect of social housing acquisitions which are:

(i) in one of the priority categories set out in the January circular letter;

(ii) in line with acquisition cost guidelines; and

(iii) can be completed during 2022.

The reinstatement of delegated sanction will allow local authorities to respond more flexibility to secure acquisitions which support a household to exit or to prevent homelessness. I have requested local authorities to be proactive in acquiring properties which can prevent homelessness, including properties where a notice of termination has been issued to the tenant.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity in all local authorities, including information on social housing acquisitions. This data is available until the end of Quarter 2 2022 and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.

My Department does not hold data on the occupation status of properties acquired for social housing. This information may be available from individual local authorities.

Copies of the circular letters were provided to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage.