Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I refer to my reply to Question No. 123 of 13 December 2023 regarding this matter.

Approval to purchase under the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is a separate matter to obtaining finance. An applicant must pay the purchase money at the time the sale of the house is completed. Finance can be sought from a variety of sources including commercial lenders, or the Local Authority Home Loan, or through an applicant’s own resources.

In general, the Local Authority Home Loan can be used to finance the purchase of a property under the Tenant Purchase Scheme. As I set out in my previous response, there is no deposit requirement for Tenant Purchase. However, all other criteria for eligibility for the Local Authority Home Loan will apply to applicants availing of the Tenant Purchase Scheme.

As part of the assessment process and to ensure prudent lending for both the borrower and the Local Authority, an applicant(s) repayment capacity and creditworthiness is assessed, which would include evidence of their savings record.

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.

Details of the Local Authority Home Loan can be found on the dedicated website: localauthorityhomeloan.ie/.