Mortgage to rent scheme

Tinkerbell4484

Basically we have started the process of the mortgage to rent scheme,a lady from environmental health came to our house last week and has said our house is over occupied (4 boys sleep in 1 bedroom) and is therefore unsuitable for our needs.one of the conditions of the mortgage to rent scheme is the house must be suitable for families needs.
Does anyone know what happens now? Will they maybe move us to a different council house but apply the mortgage to rent scheme to it?

The_Conductor

You need to liaise with the council and find out what their approach in situations like this are. The scheme is supposed to be- you surrender your house to the council and become a tenant in the property, period. It is not envisaged that there would be swapping of property or movement of tenants to other properties- aside from anything else there is a significant waiting list for council properties.

This exercise is a government backed initiative to try and help councils cleanse their delinquent loan books- there is consternation at the levels of mortgage arrears among those who took out council loans- this is seen as a mechanism for councils to cleanse their bad debts, while simultaneously increasing their housing stock.

Original reports indicated that many of those surrendering their houses would move into the private rental sector- freeing up the homes they were surrendering, for councils to apportion to their housing lists- it was seen as a win-win all round- people with council mortgages who couldn't afford them- would have a get-out-of-jail free card, and be allowed hand the property back to the council- and the property would be freed up for the housing list.

It was only after representations- that it was decided that many people availing of the scheme would be unable to otherwise house themselves- and would therefore be allowed stay in the properties as tenants- which destroyed the original purpose of the scheme (to reduce the housing waiting lists).

Essentially- you are going to need to contact the council and see how they plan to handle this- normally it would be to put you on a housing list- however, given that you are in accommodation- albeit unsuitable accommodation- those without accommodation or in emergency accommodation- will likely have preference over you.

The scheme is up for review in September- and its first year of operation will be scrutinised. I would suggest availing of it as soon as possible- the original purpose of the scheme has been totally changed and councils are unhappy with having to subvent the scheme in the manner they are doing.

MouseTail

Are you talking about the right scheme Conductor?

Mortgage to Rent is for tenants in distress with their mortgagee, regardless of lender, and is operated by Housing Associations.

http://www.housing.ie/Housing-Information/Mortgage-to-Rent-Scheme

The_Conductor

Thats one strand of it.
The Housing Agency are involved with Housing Associations.
Local Authorities who supplied Local Authority Mortgages- are the other strand of the equation. They signed up to the scheme last year- as a mechanism to try to manage their arrears book. Dublin City Council (at the time) had over 15 million in arrears, and a lengthening housing list. Council/LA involvement was sold to them as a method of cleansing their arrears, while simultaneously increasing their stock of housing to help them manage their housing list. It was implied (wrongly) that a significant number of people availing of the scheme would be in a position to rent privately, were they allowed hand the properties back to the council under the scheme.

Obviously- the assumptions were wildly inaccurate (as the Housing Agency could have told them).

There were rules governing the scheme-

For example-

The o/s mortgage could be a max of 200k for the Dublin/Kildare/Meath local authorities or 180k for the rest of the country.
The combined net household income must be less than 35k for Dublin, 30k for Kildare/Meath or 25k for elsewhere in the country.
The applicant must be habitually resident in Ireland, have the right to reside indefinitely in Ireland, and their housing must be suitable to their needs.....

(If you contact the Housing Agency- they can give you a full list of requirements).

The scheme was originally dreamt up by the Housing Associations- to assist those with troubled mortgages (they didn't distinguish who the lender was- and in most cases they were commercial mortgages). The Local Authorities were convinced last year to hop into the scheme- as the Dept. of the Environment got increasingly angsty over the level of local authority mortgage arrears that were building up (nationwide- but esp. in the Dublin areas). It was sold to the LAs as a method of cleansing their loan books- while at the same time increasing their housing stocks- which was complete and utter wishful thinking on someone's part.

I assumed the OP was talking about the local authority involvement- as they mention 'Council House' in their post.

Strictly speaking the OP does not qualify for the Mortgage to Rent Scheme- as their current property- is not suitable for their needs (as assessed).......

Its a bit of a mess for the OP- and an unfortunate reflection of the times. They need to be rehoused. They do not meet the criteria of the Mortgage-to-Rent scheme. They are (presumably) not on a housing list- as they live in a house (albeit an unsuitable one). There are too many things coincidentally stacking up against the OP here- and they really really need to liaise with the council/local authority (Housing Agency/Housing Association- as appropriate)- to try to get this moving.

Its an unfortunate position- they are falling between several stools.......

Mrs OBumble

OP - do YOU regard the house as unsuitable for your needs, both now and in the medium term as the boys grow?

Frankly, if it's a big bedroom and has enough space for four teenagers, then I don't really see it as overcrowded, especially the longer-term alternative is for your family to be homeless.

If you think it is suitable, then perhaps approach a councillor, TD or even a friendly journalist .. and find out from the council what the process if for appealing the decision.

Tinkerbell4484

No I don't think it's suitable,it's 2 beds long (we have 2 sets of bunk beds against the long wall) and 1 bed long then the door. The boys are ranging in age from 11 down to 3, it was the environmental health inspector that said it was overcrowded and that the scheme will not accept is as its not suitable for us.
It's really not nice knowing what is going to happen

Edited to add we basically had a meeting last year with finance in county council as our mortgage is shared ownership. They said the mortgage is unsustainable and they were going to start repossession,then a month later they wrote to say we had to go through the mortgage to rent scheme

Mrs OBumble

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

Edited to add we basically had a meeting last year with finance in county council as our mortgage is shared ownership. They said the mortgage is unsustainable and they were going to start repossession,then a month later they wrote to say we had to go through the mortgage to rent scheme

So your mortgage is with the council?

If that's right, then I reckon you can relax: not a chance that any council would risk the publicity nightmare of themselves making a family homeless.

So - they will simply have to find a solution for you. Goodness only knows how, but it's their problem, not yours!

(Don't relax totally ... pay what you can, at least 1/3 of your income. You need the judge to know that you're trying the best you can.)

Tinkerbell4484

Just thought I would update this for anyone who is going through similar.
We are ring moved to a bigger council house still with the mortgage to rent scheme,apparently they are all allowed to do this when a house in under/overcrowded.
We are currently at the valuation stage of our own home,we have viewed another house in October which is currently having repairs done and will be ready in march,but have not recieved an official offer from the council on it yet,it's a very slow process.
So basically we are being accepted onto the mortgage to rent scheme,and will be paying the rent on it and the shortfall debt of our own home