Fianna Fáil Minister, Anne Rabbitte, is encouraging those looking to purchase a new or second-hand home or build their own home to consider applying for a Local Authority Home Loan.
A Local Authority Home Loan is a Government-backed mortgage for creditworthy first time buyers (or those making a fresh start after a divorce, separation or bankruptcy ) and is available nationwide from all Local Authorities. It enables an applicant to borrow up to 90% of the value of the property where they have proof of insufficient mortgage offers of finance from two regulated financial providers.
Minister Rabbitte said they want and we need people to know that there are options when it comes to buying a home and the Local Authority Home Loan is one of a number of measures which is available to help.
“In March this year. Government made major improvements to the loan by increasing both the house price ceilings for all local authority areas and raising the income eligibility limits for applicants meaning it now applies to a wider base with more people eligible to apply.
“It is hard to buy a home in Ireland, no one is denying that, but there are real signs that the situation is improving and so it’s really important that people know there are several State backed measures to help them own a home.
“There has been an annual increase of 37.8% in the total number of homes approved planning permission in Q1 2023. Commencement figures remain very strong and figures published just last week shows there were 2,985 homes commenced in July 2023, an increase ofs 22.4% on the same time last year. 14,069 homes were completed in the first half of 2023 which is the highest H1 completion total since records began in 2011
