Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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78. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there is flexibility within the Housing Agency rules in cases in which a person who has been approved for a local authority mortgage cannot have it drawn down given that no management company is currently in place in the estate and the estate is classed as unfinished in order to ensure that an approved applicant would not lose out on purchasing a home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53616/22]

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.

All properties purchased using the Local Authority Home Loan scheme must be in a habitable condition acceptable to the Local Authority, supported by a Valuation Report conducted by an approved independent or Local Authority Valuer. Additional documentation may also be requested by the Local Authority as part of an application, in particular to ensure that the title to the property is one which an ordinary mortgagee would be willing to accept, which may be the issue in the situation described here.

The final decision on loan approval is a matter for each Local Authority, not the Housing Agency, and its Credit Committee on a case-by-case basis.

Section 63(3) of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that, subject to law, a local authority is independent in the performance of its functions. Section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 specifically provides that my power to issue policy directions and guidelines to housing authorities in relation to their housing functions should not be construed as enabling me to exercise any power or control in relation to any individual case with which a housing authority is or may be concerned. I am, therefore, precluded from intervening in relation to individual cases such as this.