Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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134. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of homes in each local authority supported under the first home scheme since its introduction in 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30125/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The First Home Scheme, which launched in July 2022, is a shared equity scheme designed to help bridge the gap between a purchaser’s deposit and mortgage, and the price of their new home, for eligible first-time buyers, Fresh Start applicants and those who wish to build their first home. The Scheme was expanded on 17th April 2023 to include the Tenant Home Purchase Product, enabling tenants who have received a notice of termination to buy the home they were renting, subject to the other terms and conditions of the First Home Scheme.

The First Home Scheme Designated Activity Company is responsible for the operation and management of the First Home Scheme on behalf of its shareholders - the State, Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB and, as such, is responsible for First Home Scheme reporting.

Quarterly and annual updates are made available on the First Home Scheme website. The most recent report, that of Q1 2024, is available at the following link: .

Furthermore, the First Home 2023 Annual Report, including information in relation to the number of homes in each local authority area supported under the scheme, is available here: .

My Department also publishes quarterly data on overall affordable housing provision, with the delivery figures for First Home broken down by Local Authority area, available at the following link: .

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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135. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the total number of applicants for Rebuilding Ireland home loans/local authority home loans from Cork; the total number that have been successful; the total number that have been refused; the average time from application to decision, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30176/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Local Authority Home Loan (LAHL) is a Government-backed mortgage for creditworthy for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants 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, when it replaced the Rebuilding Ireland home Loan which was in operation from Jan 2018 to Jan 2022. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build.

The Housing Agency provides a central underwriting service that assesses valid applications for the Local Authority Home Loan on behalf of local authorities and makes recommendations to local authorities to approve or refuse applications.

The most recent figures provided by the Agency on the number of valid Rebuilding Ireland and Local Authority Home Loan applications that it has assessed for the Cork City and County Local Authorities up to the end of May 2024 are set out in the below table:

The final decision on loan approval is a matter for the relevant local authority and its Credit Committee on a case-by-case basis. 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 the lenders, the local authorities.

My Department publishes information on the number and value of (i) local authority loan approvals and (ii) local authority loan drawdowns. Local authority approval means that an official letter of offer has been sent to a borrower (and therefore relates to a specific property and loan amount). Information on drawdowns, approvals, average drawdowns, and average approvals for Local Authority Home Loans are available on my Department’s website at the following link, which is updated as soon as figures are available:

Information on average processing times is not collected by my Department.