AARON KENT
Speaking at the Waterford Council’s Plenary meeting for February, Fianna Fáil Cllr Jason Murphy, highlighted that there was one Local Authority Housing loan out of 11 applications in February.
“I see in February there was 11 applications for Council housing loans but only one was approved. It doesn’t say in the report why 10 were not approved. Could we have some clarification on that?” he asked.
A Local Authority Housing Loan allows first-time or fresh-start buyers to purchase or self-build a primary residence with a large loan from the Council, similar to a mortgage.
Those availing of this scheme must have been refused by traditional mortgage lenders. Among other criteria, the maximum market value of a property that can be purchased or self-built in Waterford City and County is €345,000.
Income from joint applicants cannot exceed €85,000, while income from a single applicant must be no more than €80,000.
Cllr Murphy’s comments indicate Waterford Council received 11 applications for Local Authority Housing Loans in February, and of those 11 only one was successful – an approval rate of 9%.
In reference to why this might be the case, Director of Services Seamus de Faoite suggested that these figures represent a snapshot of the overall scheme and could vary significantly from month to month.
Director de Faoite also implied that the Council has a responsibility not to provide loans that the applicant may not be able to afford.
“It’s around timing as well, maybe this month we have one approved and next month they may all be approved,” he added.
Funded by the Local Authority Reporting Scheme
