Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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313. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the implementation of the review actions outlined in the 2021 Review of the Mortgage to Rent Scheme for Borrowers of Commercial Private Lending Institutions; the details of any reviews or analysis carried out, underway or planned with regard to the operation of the mortgage to rent scheme in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3931/23]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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314. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of successful mortgage to rent applications through approved housing bodies, local authorities and Home for Life in each of the years 2012 to 2022, and to-date in 2023; the number of unsuccessful mortgage to rent applications through approved housing bodies, local authorities and Home for Life in each of the years 2012 to 2022 and to-date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3932/23]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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315. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of successful mortgage to rent applicants who have bought back their homes in each of the years 2012 to 2022, and to-date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3933/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 313 to 315, inclusive, together.

The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme was introduced in 2012 for borrowers of commercial lending institutions and is targeted at those households in mortgage arrears who have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable by their lender under the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP), who agree to the voluntary surrender of their home and who have very limited options, if any, to meet their long-term housing needs themselves. In addition, the household must be deemed eligible for social housing support. The concept of the scheme is that a household with an unsustainable mortgage goes from being a homeowner to being a social housing tenant.

Under the MTR scheme, the borrower surrenders their property to their lender and it will be then sold to an MTR provider who can be either an Approved Housing Body (AHB) or since 2018 a private company, Home for Life Ltd. The AHB or local authority (in the case where the property is sold to a private company) becomes the landlord and the borrower remains in the property as a tenant paying a differential rent to the landlord based on his or her income.

To the end of December 2022, a total of 2,114 households with unsustainable private mortgages have completed the MTR process and 534 cases are being actively progressed. A total of 6,078 individuals are benefitting from the scheme, which comprises of 3,350 adults and 2,728 children.

The requested information on annual completed cases by AHB and Home for Life is outlined in the table below.

The Housing Agency publishes, on a quarterly basis, detailed statistical information on the operation of the MTR scheme. Amongst the suite of reports are tables showing the number of terminated and ineligible cases per quarter. This information is available on the Housing Agency's website at the following link: www.housingagency.ie/housing-information/mortgage-rent-statistics

A MTR scheme was also introduced for local authority borrowers which is called Local Authority Mortgage to Rent (LAMTR) and has been in place nationally since 2014. Under the scheme, a local authority can acquire ownership of properties with unsustainable local authority mortgages, thus enabling the household to remain in their home as social housing tenants. Information in relation to the Local Authority MTR scheme from its inception in 2013 to end 2021, broken down by local authority area, is available on my Department's website under the heading Local Authority Mortgage to Rent at the link below. During that period, a total of 552 households had benefited from the scheme. 2022 figures will be available shortly.

www.gov.ie/en/collection/42d2f-local-authority-loan-activity/#local-authority-mortgage-to-rent-scheme > refer to the section “Local Authority Mortgage to Rent scheme”.

One of the benefits of the Mortgage to Rent scheme is the option for the property to be bought back by the borrower if their financial situation improves. Since the inception of the scheme up to the end of December 2022, 6 MTR properties have been bought back by MTR scheme recipients.

Both the Programme for Government and Housing for All commits to strengthening the Mortgage to Rent scheme and ensuring that it is helping those who need it. Building on the significant amendments already made to the scheme in 2017, the 2021 Review, which was published on the 24 January 2022, examined the impact of these changes and what further changes would benefit those in need of the scheme. While the scheme is performing well, it was assessed that some further enhancements were needed to enable more households in need of State support with their long-term housing needs to avail of this scheme.

Four broad categories of actions are identified in the review, including:

a) Broadening the eligibility criteria;

b) Improving the scheme process, structure and financing;

c) Increasing communication and awareness raising; and

d) Responding to developments around mortgage arrears solutions.

Positive Equity:Three new limits varying from €25,000 to €35,000 apply depending on the location of the property.

Property Acquisition Limits:Increases of up to 14% on the previous limits have been implemented across two threshold areas.

Flexibility on over accommodation: The scheme now allows flexibility on the over accommodation rule where a member of the household is aged 65 or over, or has a disability.

An advertising campaign on urban and regional buses was conducted in Q4 2022 under the 'Communication and awareness raising' action and further initiatives to increase awareness of the scheme are planned for 2023. There is continued engagement with Abhaile, the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) and Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) to disseminate information on the MTR scheme.

The Cross Sectoral Working Group was also established and meetings were held in 2022.

Full details of the recommendations and associated actions are outlined within the 2021 Review of the Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme for people who have borrowed from commercial private lending institutions and this review is available on my Department's website under Publications: www.gov.ie/en/publication/ed57b-2021-review-of-the-mortgage-to-rent-scheme-for-borrowers-of-commercial-private-lending-institutions/