1964. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage If his Department has conducted an assessment or will formulate a targeted housing strategy to support older separated or divorced couples who are trapped cohabiting because the divided equity from their family home is entirely insufficient to buy two separate properties in the current market; if his Department is considering financial or grant-aided models to prevent this cohort from being forced out of their communities or into the rental sector. [64059/26]

The Government is acutely aware of the housing challenges faced by many sectors of society. Ireland's housing plan Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025- 2030, contains a suite of actions that have and continue to increase the provision of housing through accelerating supply and increasing the affordability of homes for our citizens.

The 'Fresh Start' principle is applied across a number of affordable and mortgage schemes run and supported by my Department such as the Starter Home Purchase Scheme (formerly known as the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme), the First Home Scheme and the Local Authority Home Loan. This principle means those who have previously purchased a home, who have since experienced separation, divorce or bankruptcy/insolvency and no longer have a financial interest in the property may be eligible for many of these supports, no different than a First Time Buyer.

Information and guidance on the affordable housing supports in place for First Time Buyers, Fresh Starters and other eligible applicants is available at the following link:

https://newstarterhomes.ie/

This includes information on available affordable schemes, including:

Starter Home Purchase Scheme;

First Home Scheme;

Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant; and

Cost Rental.

Of further note, none of the above-mentioned schemes have eligibility rules setting out an upper age limit and interested applicants may apply provided they are over the age of 18. These measures are primarily aimed at supporting affordability constrained households and are regularly reviewed by my Department.

In relation to the Local Authority Home Loan (LAHL) scheme, which is a Government backed loan for creditworthy First Time Buyers and Fresh Start applicants who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home, it is available to applicants between 18 and 70 years of age. As with any mortgage, it must be paid back in full, over a period of up to 30 years. The decision to offer a LAHL mortgage, and the amount of same, is therefore based on an assessment of an applicant’s ability to repay the mortgage. No plans have been made to increase the LAHL’s maximum age limits to permit the issuing of new loans to applicants over 70 years of age.