Leaseback plan for struggling homeowners a ‘compassionate approach’ – Coveney

Minister for Housing Simon Coveney has said the expansion of the mortgage-to-rent scheme to include private finance houses is "a compassionate approach by the State" to struggling families.

Under a new plan to be rolled out by the Government, private finance houses will be able to bulk-buy the mortgages of such families and lease the properties back to the State.

The move from Mr Coveney marks a significant expansion of the “mortgage-to-rent” scheme which has been so far been hampered with poor take-up.

Under the plan, families then become the State’s tenants with a guaranteed 20-year lease and an option for a further 20 years.

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"This is about avoiding evictions when people want to stay in their home," Mr Coveney told Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show.

The Minister said that it is not acceptable that the Republic has a ten per cent vacancy rate when there is so much pressure on housing availability.

The rate is considerably higher than the UK which is just over two per cent.

“There are lots of reasons. There is no silver bullet here. We are looking at a number of ways to get vacant houses back into the system for use as social housing.”

He added that his department is in talks with the Department of Health over the Fair Deal scheme (which provides financial support to people who need long-term nursing home care) as at present there is no incentive for families to release a house.

The Minister also said he was not prepared to increase local property tax on vacant units.

“We will improve things through incentives rather than levies,” he said.