Following on from a request by Elected Members, A/Director of Services Fiona Ní Chuinn delivered a presentation outlining information on financial programmes that assist the purchase or renting of a property:

·         Help to Buy (HTB) Scheme

·         First Home Scheme

·         Local Authority Home Loan (LAHL) Scheme/Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Loan (LAPR) Scheme

·         Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant (Croí Conaithe Grant)

·         Local Authority Affordable Homes (AHS) Scheme

·         Cost Rental Homes Scheme

The HTB scheme is an incentive for first-time buyers to help with their deposit for purchasing or self-building a new home.

The First Home Scheme (FHS) is a shared equity scheme, designed to help bridge the gap for first-time buyers and other eligible homebuyers between their deposit and mortgage, and the price or build cost of their new home.

The LAHL scheme is a Government backed mortgage for creditworthy first time buyers and fresh start applicants who cannot get funding from commercial banks - available through Local Authorities.

The LAPR scheme is a loan for the purchase and renovation of derelict and non-habitable homes. The property must be eligible for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant (Croi Conaithe), whether derelict, non-habitable or simply vacant.

The Croi Conaithe/Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is a max grant of €50,000 for the refurbishment of vacant and derelict properties.

The AHS helps to bridge the gap between what you can afford to pay and the price of your new home.

The Cost Rental Homes Scheme is based on the cost of building, managing, and maintaining the homes. Cost Rental Homes can be provided by Local Authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and the Land Development Agency. The provider for each development will be responsible for assessing all applications. Roscommon currently does not have any Cost Rental properties opportunities.

A/Director of Services Fiona Ní Chuinn advised that an Affordable Housing Officer has been appointed and thanked the Chief Executive and Director of Services Caitlín Conneely for their approval same.

In relation to the AHS, the A/Director advised that there has been a substantial amount of work to get the scheme across the line including meeting with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and discussions with neighbouring Local Authorities. An expression of interest survey is currently being created to show proof of need to the Department. Currently, Roscommon Town and Monksland are being explored as areas for this scheme. The survey will be advertised through social media and online. The Elected Members will be notified when the survey is live.

A mini housing needs demand assessment is also being complied, once completed, it will go before the Housing, Integration, Community and Culture SPC for approval.

Cathaoirleach Cllr. Fitzmaurice thanked Ms. Ní Chuinn for the informative presentation and noted there have never been more housing schemes available yet housing remains a huge issue. He also expressed hope that the AHS would not be exclusively explored in just Roscommon Town and Monksland, as towns such as Castlerea, Boyle, Strokestown and Ballaghaderreen also have a need for housing and would benefit hugely from the scheme.

He also enquired what the turnaround time is for a Declaration of Exempted Development and proposed that all towns in Roscommon be considered for the AHS and expression of interests should be sent to all towns

Members broadly thanked Ms. Ní Chuinn for her presentation and discussed the following points:

·         The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant has had a great impact on the county and reduced the number of derelict properties in towns and villages. It is also a great financial return in comparison to the price of building one housing unit.

·         Concerns were expressed that there is only one Vacant Homes Officer (VHO) in the Council dealing with and inspecting every application. It was asked if there would be any chance of drafting more staff into this area temporarily. There could be many more applications and the aim should be to process as many applications as possible.

·         Further concern was raised regarding the restrictive timeframe that the applicants have to complete the works in and the sparse supply of trades.

·         It was enquired if the blanket requirement for a Section 5 Declaration of Exempted Development on every property, if the works do not require Planning Permission, could be abolished. This is putting pressure on the staff within the Planning Department and causes delays to applicants. It was stated that most applications are for internal works only which do not require Planning Permission.

·         It was asked if the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant could be paid in instalments to take financial pressure off applicants.

·         It was enquired if the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant could allow for full demolition of a house and start from scratch.

·         It was asked if someone has returned from outside the country for two years, but have paid a substantial amount on income tax are they eligible to qualify based on actual tax paid or does the tax paid have to be spread out across the 4 years. 

·         It was also asked why the Cost Rental Scheme is not active in Roscommon, high rents areas, particularly Monksland could benefit from this scheme and it was recommended that it should be considered.

·         Concern that only Monksland and Roscommon Town are being considered for the AHS as there is demand throughout the county.

·         It was asked if the Council have property available for the AHS or will there be a reliance on private contractors to build and supply same.

·         In relation to the LAHL scheme, it is restricting in terms of the margin of €75,000 for a single person and €85,000 for a couple, and the maximum valuation of the house is €275,000. It was enquired if this could be broadened out to €150,000 for a couple and the maximum valuation of the house increased to €400,000.

A/Director of Services, Fiona Ní Chuinn, responded as follows:

·         In relation to the AHS, it is not feasible to commit to all towns in the first instance. The AHS is at a very early stage and while Roscommon Town and Monksland are the key priorities, other towns will not be ruled out. It was outlined that there are other schemes to be availed of in these areas, not to be reliant on AHS. These two towns have been identified as the higher demand areas, and the Council needs to approach this prudently from a demand perspective.

·         The housing section are not in a position to take on more staff to deal with the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant. The Council is the 3^rd fastest nationally for processing applications and measuring well against other local authorities across all statistics.

·         The requirement for a Declaration of Exempted Development (DED) on every property engaging with the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant will not be abolished as it is good planning practise for the two departments to work together to avoid a Planning Enforcement issue down the line. She advised that the application is not delayed while a DED/application for full Planning Permission is being sought.

·         A/Director of Planning, Greg O’Donnell, added that while someone may interpret that planning permission is not required, often there will be an element that materially alters the property which does require full planning permission, e.g moving a chimney, installing a septic tank, altering the façade etc. In relation to the timeline of a DED, it often is comparable to the timeline for full planning permission, as it requires the same level of scrutiny. If an application is found to require planning permission, if a DED was already submitted, this can reduce the time as planning staff will be familiar with the application.

·         The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant cannot be paid in instalments as this is national policy. 

·         50% of the property must be retained in order to avail of the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, this is national policy and the Council are not in a position to change this.

·         While applications given approval in principle must have the works complete within 13 months, there is a liberal approach taken to applications who have significant works completed within the 13 months.

·         The HTB scheme is a Revenue scheme and all individual cases should be directed to Revenue Services. 

·         There has been no demand to engage with the Cost Rental Scheme in Roscommon. While the scheme is running in other Local Authorities, it is mostly carried out through AHBs and housing agencies who have not yet shown interest in delivering this scheme in Roscommon. Delivering on capital housing projects remain the key priority for the Council at this time. If the Council were to engage in building property for the Cost Rental Scheme, this would have an effect on the amount of land available for social housing.

·         The supply of houses for the AHS will come from both private developers and from the requirement for developers to allocate 20% of Part 10 Planning Permission applications for social and affordable housing.

·         The figures in relation to the margins within the LAHL are restricting, but this issue would need to be raised by Elected Members to the Government. If the maximum amounts were to be increased significantly, this could bring applicants into a threshold that could indicate that they do not need financial assistance, from a lending institute’s perspective.

A further question was raised in relation to the number of Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant applications currently under review by the housing department, A/Director of Services Fiona Ní Chuinn indicated that this would be circulated by email.