Housing, Local Government and Heritage | The number of local authority home loans approved and drawn down in each local authority area in the past two years to date

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage the number of local authority home loans approved and drawn down in each local authority area in the past two years to date; the number of such loans likely to be issued in the current year; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

The Local Authority Home Loan is a Government-backed mortgage for those 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 for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build. It is the successor to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan which commenced on 1 February 2018.

My Department regularly 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 both the LAHL and RIHL up to Q4 2023 is available at the following link, which will be updated as soon as figures are available: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/42d2f-local-authority-loan-activity/#local-authority-loans-approvedpaid

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 lending local authorities.

The Housing Agency provides a central support service that assesses applications for the Local Authority Home Loan on behalf of local authorities and makes recommendations to the authorities to approve or refuse applications.  According to the Housing Agency, 252 applications have been recommended for approval up until the end of April this year. As the Local Authority Home Loan is demand led, and the level of loan drawdowns depends upon the individual outcomes of applicants’ home searches, it is not possible to predict the likely level of drawdowns this year.