Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Local Authority Home Loan was launched in January 2022. It is a Government backed mortgage for those who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. It is available to first-time buyers and "fresh start" applicants to purchase a new or second-hand property, or to self-build.

In accordance with scheme's rules, the Local Authority Home Loan has an upper gross income limit for scheme eligibility, which takes into account all relevant household income. I recently announced further significant changes to the scheme parameters in relation to house prices and income limits which came into effect from 1 March 2023, as follows:

- Single applicants - increased to a maximum income of €70,000 gross per annum

- Joint applicants - increased to a combined maximum income of €85,000 gross per annum.

Annual gross income as reported for the previous tax year is used to determine income eligibility of the applicant(s) for the Local Authority Home Loan scheme. Non-taxable social welfare payments are excluded for determining income eligibility. Disability Allowance is not a taxable source of income and is therefore not included in the determination of income for eligibility.

The following taxable social welfare payments are also disregarded for the purposes of calculating gross income for eligibility purposes.

- Carers Benefit

- Carers Allowance

- Community Employment Schemes

Generally, social welfare payments would not be considered as part of repayment capacity. However, certain long-term State benefit payments may be considered as repayment income only where more than 50% of the income that forms the full Home Loan application is from a source other than State benefit payments.

Long-term State benefit payments considered include;

- State Pension(Contributory),

- State Pension(Non-Contributory),

- Widow’s/Widower’s Pension,

- Blind Pension,

- Invalidity Pension.

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

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