Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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183. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 194 of 30 May 2024, if a person who sold their family home following divorce proceedings can be considered eligible for the fresh start principle for the purposes of applying for a local authority home loan or affordable purchase home; and the statutory instruments underpinning the fresh start principal as it applies to the local authority home loan and affordable purchase scheme. [27696/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The ‘Fresh Start’, principle forms a key element in ‘ Housing for All ‘and is applied across a number of affordable and mortgage schemes run by my Department such as the Local Authority Home Loan and the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme.

The Fresh Start principle allows people who are not first time buyers to be eligible to apply for a Local Authority Home Loan (LAHL) or to purchase an affordable home under the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme (LAAPS). The specific eligibility criteria for each scheme must also be met.

As set out in the Affordable Housing Act 2021 (as amended) to be eligible under the Fresh Start principle, the following provisions must be met:

• the marriage, civil partnership or relationship concerned has ended, and
• the person is now applying to purchase a property on their own or with a different person, and
• the person has divested themselves of their interest in any previous properties purchased or built and
• their most recently owned dwelling must have been lost as a result of the fresh start event.

The statutory instruments underpinning the fresh start principle as it applies to the local authority home loan and affordable purchase schemes are:

• Regulation 7(2) of S.I. No. 701 of 2021 Housing Loans Regulations 2021;
• Regulation 3(b) of S.I. No. 221 of 2024 Housing Loans (Amendment) Regulations 2024; and
• Section 10 (3) of the Affordable Housing Act 2021, (as amended).