Government Funds Local Authority Housing Scheme

Ray Rays

robbo25 wrote: »

Ah brilliant. Can I ask did they phone or email to let you know? And how long did it take?

I rang them, and I think I put in the application on the 8th Feb...

Ray Rays

Peanut99 wrote: »

Great news, congrats! Do you mind if I ask how long it took from when you submitted your application to hearing you were approved?

Thanks Submitted 8th Feb and heard back yesterday

robbo25

Ray Rays wrote: »

I rang them, and I think I put in the application on the 8th Feb...

Thank you. I handed mine about 2 weeks after you. Congrats and good luck in your new house.

SNNUS

Ray Rays wrote: »

Got word yesterday that we were approved for €279,000 just waiting for the letter now...just in the nick of time we took a gamble on a new build and paid a booking deposit signing contracts tomorrow..the relief...also Fingal County Council very helpful...best of luck to everyone waiting to hear back!!!

Congrats! Glad to see some motion on it now!! , was it roughly what you were looking for or about 10% less as some people have stated?

Ray Rays

SNNUS wrote: »

Congrats! Glad to see some motion on it now!! , was it roughly what you were looking for or about 10% less as some people have stated?

Thanks...exactly what we thought we would get and over what we needed.

bush

Ray Rays wrote: »

Thanks...exactly what we thought we would get and over what we needed.

Did you get over 3.5 your salary? What kind of rejection letters did you have?

wowwee123

Hi,

Has anyone had any delays getting the part of the application for revenue signed off? I sent off this about 5 weeks ago in the post and nothing.
Did people go into the tax office to get it signed?
I sent mine to ashtown..

ad1234

wowwee123 wrote: »

Hi,

Has anyone had any delays getting the part of the application for revenue signed off? I sent off this about 5 weeks ago in the post and nothing.
Did people go into the tax office to get it signed?
I sent mine to ashtown..

I went in to get it stamped in person in dublin and when I was there there was a lady in front of me who was missing some bit of info and said to the lady ah sure I'll post it when I get home. The lady said it's about a 6 week turn around so if she can get hold of her info and do it now it might be in her interest.
I'd imagine that timeframe might be relevant to you too....

wowwee123

Thanks ad1234,

what office in Dublin did you go in to?

Is it a central office you call in to.

They don't make these things easy sure they don't..

SNNUS

wowwee123 wrote: »

Hi,

Has anyone had any delays getting the part of the application for revenue signed off? I sent off this about 5 weeks ago in the post and nothing.
Did people go into the tax office to get it signed?
I sent mine to ashtown..

Get it done in person in the tax office.

ad1234

wowwee123 wrote: »

Thanks ad1234,

what office in Dublin did you go in to?

Is it a central office you call in to.

They don't make these things easy sure they don't..

Yeah the one on cathedral st. Just off o connell st.

B00MSTICK

bush wrote: »

Ray Rays wrote:

Got word yesterday that we were approved for €279,000 just waiting for the letter now...just in the nick of time we took a gamble on a new build and paid a booking deposit signing contracts tomorrow..the relief...also Fingal County Council very helpful...best of luck to everyone waiting to hear back!!!

Did you get over 3.5 your salary? What kind of rejection letters did you have?

Ray Rays wrote:

Thanks...exactly what we thought we would get and over what we needed.

Assuming the max income was 75k for a couple, 3.5 x that amount would be €262.5k (but he got 270k - approximately 3.7 times)

As someone who is the sole earner in married couple I'm not sure how I feel about this.
Our income is within the limit of the scheme but honestly I didn't think we would be approved - I assumed this scheme was for people who were really struggling to get a house/mortgage as despite decent management of their finances they couldn't save enough.

I haven't read Ray Rays previous posts or what his situation is like but it seems grossly unfair for someone who must be able to afford rent and a decent sized mortgage to be given one at a preferential rate? And above what they actually need?


So are people applying for amounts they know they wont get approved on and then just using that to get on a lower rate mortgage?
Is this a case of me being a dummy for not abusing the system?

No offence intended here (just using Ray Rays as a recent example) but if you are being approved for 279k you surely must have a sizeable income and enough to save for a deposit and mortgage like the rest of us? Am I missing something?

stryker mcqueen

wowwee123 wrote: »

Hi,

Has anyone had any delays getting the part of the application for revenue signed off? I sent off this about 5 weeks ago in the post and nothing.
Did people go into the tax office to get it signed?
I sent mine to ashtown..

I sent mine to revenue commissioner in tallaght with a stamped addressed envelope and got it back in 3 days

Lolle06

B00MSTICK wrote: »

Assuming the max income was 75k for a couple, 3.5 x that amount would be €262.5k (but he got 270k - approximately 3.7 times)

As someone who is the sole earner in married couple I'm not sure how I feel about this.
Our income is within the limit of the scheme but honestly I didn't think we would be approved - I assumed this scheme was for people who were really struggling to get a house/mortgage as despite decent management of their finances they couldn't save enough.

I haven't read Ray Rays previous posts or what his situation is like but it seems grossly unfair for someone who must be able to afford rent and a decent sized mortgage to be given one at a preferential rate? And above what they actually need?


So are people applying for amounts they know they wont get approved on and then just using that to get on a lower rate mortgage?
Is this a case of me being a dummy for not abusing the system?

No offence intended here (just using Ray Rays as a recent example) but if you are being approved for 279k you surely must have a sizeable income and enough to save for a deposit and mortgage like the rest of us? Am I missing something?

I don’t think the 3.5x income rule applies, if you can show that you are comfortably capable of paying your monthly mortgage rate - and b/c it’s a set interest rate, the monthly costs won’t rise in the future.

Sure, it would be nice if every mortgage holder could avail of a set interest rate of 2% - after all, that‘s the golden bonus of this scheme, since the former scheme only offered the variable market rate!

Sometimes it‘s next to impossible to get a mortgage from a bank - even though you have a reasonable good income, no debt, good credit report, proof of savings and pay rent, etc. - if you have a few children, you’d know what I mean.

I don’t think ppl who are within the higher income limit are „abusing“ the system - the government will make sure, all figures stack up - and they certainly take enough time for each application, to check it not only once or twice, but three times!

And how much they would lend you depends not only on your location, I guess it would also depend on the average house price.
Because as far as I know, the house needs to be habitable and structurally sound (checked by the CoCo engineer) - so a renovation project would be out of the question.

But at the end of the day, it’s up to yourself to apply for this scheme if you meet the criteria!

Bobbilly

I'm very tempted by this and have read pretty much every post in this thread after hearing about it only recently.

I've a few questions to double check if anyone could help.

1) Can you definitely use online mortgage calculators? I'd prefer not to deal with meetings with banks etc and potentially damage my credit rating (?). If so, could someone pass on what calculators you used?

2) If you do get accepted with this scheme, how long do you have to accept or reject the offer?

3) Someone mentoined you can also use the help to buy scheme with this. Is this confirmed? From what I know this is 5% back from the purchase price of the property so it's a decent sum.

This suits me down to the ground. I'm under 50k, looking for an apartment near the city in a place that doesn't have any apartments for 3.5 times my salary.

Thanks

Bobbilly

Oh, one more thing since the site doesn't go in to a whole lot of detail.

Would there be penalties for paying back this mortgage in under the agreed time?

SNNUS

All the answers should be here..

http://rebuildingirelandhomeloan.ie/faq/

Peanut99

Bobbilly wrote: »

I'm very tempted by this and have read pretty much every post in this thread after hearing about it only recently.

I've a few questions to double check if anyone could help.

1) Can you definitely use online mortgage calculators? I'd prefer not to deal with meetings with banks etc and potentially damage my credit rating (?). If so, could someone pass on what calculators you used?

2) If you do get accepted with this scheme, how long do you have to accept or reject the offer?

3) Someone mentoined you can also use the help to buy scheme with this. Is this confirmed? From what I know this is 5% back from the purchase price of the property so it's a decent sum.

This suits me down to the ground. I'm under 50k, looking for an apartment near the city in a place that doesn't have any apartments for 3.5 times my salary.

Thanks

My Local Authority insisted that they needed letters from banks and that they would not accept the online mortgage calculators.

Can you tell me how applying to the banks for a mortgage affects a persons credit rating?

SNNUS

Your credit history is not affected by applying, credit history is your history of repaying loans, Banks only note the loans that have been approved and funds transferred.

The_Conductor

SNNUS wrote: »

Your credit history is not affected by applying, credit history is your history of repaying loans, Banks only note the loans that have been approved and funds transferred.

Not entirely accurate.
Anytime you apply for a loan, a credit card, a credit union loan- or borrowing in general- it is now standard that the prospective lender will query your credit score with the ICB (Irish Credit Bureau). Any loan over three months in arrears- results in an automatic return from the ICB of a score of 50- which is an automatic failure for loan purposes with any lender.

As you apply for mortgages and get refused for them- the query the lender makes to the ICB- is recorded on your record- under a 'Historical Enquiries made by Financial Institutions ('Footprints')' section. And when you apply for any loan- the prospective lender (including the local authorities)- receive your footprints from the previous 12 months- in addition to your ICB score.

You are entitled to view your ICB score- and have the ICB contact any historic errors if they contain any inaccuracies as they pertain to your record.

Any prospective lender (including a local authority lender) gets a copy of your 'footprints' from the previous 12 months. Your actual score is based on your financial transactions going back over the previous 60 months (5 years) and its a rolling 5 years- so if you had a catastrophic event on your credit record 4 years and 11 months ago that has stopped you getting credit- it is wiped in a month's time. However- if you have kept a loan in arrears- you have a rolling catastrophic event- normally updated every 90 days by the lender with whom you hold the loan in default.........

As a catastrophic credit event ages- your ICB score increases- from a lowpoint of 50 (for a current delinquint loan/creditcard/creditunion loan etc) to a score of 500 for a clean record (with additional checks necessary for anyone who doesn't have an ICB record- typically showing habitual residence in Ireland, salary slips- and a statement that you have no loans of any nature and have not done in the preceding 5 years in this or any other jurisdiction).

The ICB can reference credit scores automatically within the EU- and on an adhoc basis with other jurisdictions (including the US and Australia).

The number of 'footprints' on your ICB record- *does* negatively impact on your ICB score- i.e. if you toss random requests for credit cards or other debt around the place- whether or not they are accepted or turned down- they feature on your ICB Footprints- and *do* affect your score.

It only costs 6 quid to query your ICB score- and it makes perfect sense for people to try and ensure their ICB score is accurate- mistakes do happen- and while a mistake will eventually expire (after 5 years)- it makes far more sense to get them corrected- than having a bad ICB score follow your applications like a bad smell............

little man disorder

Hi, does anyone know if they are willing to take a site in lieu of a deposit like all other bank? many thanks

Bobbilly

Peanut99 wrote: »

My Local Authority insisted that they needed letters from banks and that they would not accept the online mortgage calculators.

Can you tell me how applying to the banks for a mortgage affects a persons credit rating?

Interesting. I'm thinking of doing this in Dublin 15 so maybe it's not a bad idea to get in touch with the local council first by what you've said.

Doesn't seem right that each council is different though. The website says mortgage calculators are enough.

Pelvis

Can someone clarify the elegibility here.

The application form says:

"Be earning under €50,000 (gross) in the previous tax year"

The "am I eligible" section of the website says:

"have an annual gross income of not more than €50,000 as a single applicant"

So if I earn 50k exactly, am I eligible or what?

Zorbby

Hi, recently applied for this but was rejected on the grounds that our application didn't meet the critirea, the reason provided was that the primary earner was not the primary applicant.
We filled the form in this way as to meet the criteria listed on the website of the primary applicant needs to be in permanent employment for the previous two years , 4 years 27.5k while the wife has only a year as a teacher in this job she moves schools and not permanent in any but earns 33.5k.
We meet the listed criteria and when we rang the help line they advised this was not their rules but something the local council must have made up themselves.
Council are saying there is no appeal process and nothing further can be done, they also advised if the wife earns less than 27.5 it would be an eligible application.
Surely this does not make sense as we are a joint application with less than 70k earnings and meet the criteria as per the rebuilding Ireland website, is it typical that the primary earner by default is the primary applicant?

ad1234

Zorbby wrote: »

Hi, recently applied for this but was rejected on the grounds that our application didn't meet the critirea, the reason provided was that the primary earner was not the primary applicant.
We filled the form in this way as to meet the criteria listed on the website of the primary applicant needs to be in permanent employment for the previous two years , 4 years 27.5k while the wife has only a year as a teacher in this job she moves schools and not permanent in any but earns 33.5k.
We meet the listed criteria and when we rang the help line they advised this was not their rules but something the local council must have made up themselves.
Council are saying there is no appeal process and nothing further can be done, they also advised if the wife earns less than 27.5 it would be an eligible application.
Surely this does not make sense as we are a joint application with less than 70k earnings and meet the criteria as per the rebuilding Ireland website, is it typical that the primary earner by default is the primary applicant?

What council did you go through? Were you waiting long to hear?
That's shocking.
Can you reapply?

Zorbby

ad1234 wrote: »

What council did you go through? Were you waiting long to hear?
That's shocking.
Can you reapply?

Applied in Cork county council, only had the apllication in about a week before getting the rejection letter, based on what they were saying we wont be able to apply again unless the wifes salary is decreased 7k or my employer gives me a 7k rise🙄
The banks wont give a mortgage either due to the unsecured nature of her contract, it was when we were applying in the bank they actually advised us of this scheme telling us we would be ideal candidates for this as we meet the critirea for rebuilding Ireland but not a bank mortgage!

foodiewarrior

@Zorbby

This is very strange. Something doesn't add up. This is not a requirement of Rebuilding Ireland. Maybe it's your County Council. Try to look for a more detailed explanation.

Junadl

Zorbby wrote: »

Applied in Cork county council, only had the apllication in about a week before getting the rejection letter, based on what they were saying we wont be able to apply again unless the wifes salary is decreased 7k or my employer gives me a 7k rise��
The banks wont give a mortgage either due to the unsecured nature of her contract, it was when we were applying in the bank they actually advised us of this scheme telling us we would be ideal candidates for this as we meet the critirea for rebuilding Ireland but not a bank mortgage!

That is unbelievable! Appeal the decision. Write out your case clearly, photocopy it as proof. Send as registered letter. Possibly involve a TD. You sound like the exact people this should be given to. This scheme sounds like a massive lie.

trudy2222

Hi everyone, so sorry if this question has been answered already.

Does the county council you apply to restrict your purchase to that county councils area alone? For example if applying to Fingal can I then only look to buy houses in the fingal area?

Thanks 😊

The_Conductor

Pelvis wrote: »

The "am I eligible" section of the website says:

"have an annual gross income of not more than €50,000 as a single applicant"

So if I earn 50k exactly, am I eligible or what?

Its a straight valid/invalid output when the application is being assessed.
If you earn 50,000.00 gross- you pass that criteria.
If you earn one penny more- that is 50,000.01- you fail the income criteria.