Affordable housing questions

O

olly

Guest
Hi there, Could anyone help me with these questions I have about the affordable housing please? I can't seem to get an answer from Fingal..

Firstly I am only in the process of getting stuff together in order to apply but just wondered how this works..

Basically last year I was on 23 1/2 k basic salary. I have got a new job and am now on 26 1/2 k with approx 4k bonus on top of this.
I am in the new job 3 months nearly and was told I will be getting a pay review after 6 months. I was also told this would most likely go up then.
My question is, when my circumstances change for the better and I am still on the waiting list , will this effect the amount I am approved for or will I be only approved for the amount I was originally approved for, or will the new salary be taken into account and the loan amount go up also?

Secondly, I have a car loan at the moment. I am getting a guarenteed cheque in October / November at the latest which will clear this loan off completely. Like the question above, will this have any impact on my loan amount once I have already applied, or will it be the same amount as oringinally approved?

Am I best off applying once I have all of my stuff together just to get on the waiting list or am I best off waiting until my circumstances actually improve moneywise, then apply?

Any help or or input would be much appreciated! Thanks.
 
As far as I know, they take the figure that you are earning at the time of your application and do not consider future pay rises, etc (but I may be wrong). I think the only exception to this is if you are a civil servant/guard/nurse who is on a set pay scale. There is no harm in applying using your current circumstances though, you dont have to take what they offer you and you can re-apply again next year when you are in a better financial position.
 
Thanks Johnjay. I still haven't heard back from the coucil yet to confirm it one way or another. I think I might just apply and if i go for a meeting with them then explain it to them.
I just want to be on the waiting list now!

Did you apply for the scheme yourself? If so are you on the waiting list long?
 
olly said:
Thanks Johnjay. I still haven't heard back from the coucil yet to confirm it one way or another. I think I might just apply and if i go for a meeting with them then explain it to them.
I just want to be on the waiting list now!

Did you apply for the scheme yourself? If so are you on the waiting list long?
Click to expand...

Yeah, no harm in getting on the list anyway. I applied to the 3 councils about 3/4 weeks ago. Dublin City sent me a Panel number (I'm not expecting much from DCC, its a total lottery, with bad odds!), Ive heard nothing from SDCC, and Fingal have got in touch regarding an interview. I'm having my interview in a few days. John
 
Fingal seem to be the best way to get anything moving but it seems to be quite slow all the same. If you think of it would you let me know how it goes so I know what to expect at the interview? Thanks and good luck!
 
Well, I had my interview with Fingal today. It was very pleasant and unformal.

A nice Scottish lady sat down with me and went through all my paperwork. She was mainly interested in my current account statement and what was going in/out of it. I had a few lodgements of odd amounts (cheques lodged to cover my housemate's share of bills, and a sterling cheque from my brother for about £200.) All was in order cept for 2 pieces of paperwork - I have to send in an original copy of my credit card statement (I only enclosed an internet printout) and a letter from my landlord as I dont have a lease.

She says that once all that is in order it will go forward to "management" for approval. Once I get approval, I go on the waiting list. You application is then passed on to their "sales office" and they will call you as properties come available. She said I could get an offer anything from 2 months to 12 months after approval - she explained that an offer depends on things like how much of a mortgage I will be approved for, Suitable areas, Cancellations from other applications, etc.

She said properties will be available all over Fingal as most of their properties come from the Part V 20% rule. She said most of the properties are located in the middle of regular private estates/blocks and will be the same as regular properties in the estate, but wont have added extras like tiling, etc.

Mortgages will be for a period of 25 years and will be directly from Fingal. Mortgage protection, etc, will be included. They will only give you 95% of the total to a max of €185k. She asked me if I would have some way of raising the extra 5% and I said that my family would be willing. She asked me the max amount they would be willing to give.

She mentioned a few things that they are fairly strict on at the time of application:
Credit Cards - on-going balances of over €500 are frowned upon. (mine is about €200)
Over-Drafts - also frowned upon - My Current Account had dipped below sea-level on a few occasions - but only for periods of a few days, so I think it will be ok.
Savings - they need €3000 minimum savings for a period of 3 months or more, she said if you happen to "dip" into your savings which brings it below €3000, they will make you wait another 3 months before they will approve you - I was ok on this too!

So all I can do now is sit and wait!

J



 
Very helpful information johnjay well done. hope it goes well for you, might have to get on that list soon, will have to get my debts in order first!!

obviously they also frown up on outstanding loans, or do they even entertain this?
 
Thanks HH

I'm not sure about loans, I have mine already cleared. I'd imagine they dont mind loans as they are not short-term credit like Plastic or Over-Drafts, however I would imagine they would see the repayments as another bite out of your disposable income, and probably reduce the amount of a mortage that you can borrow - but I am only guessing...
 
As far as I'm aware, they only look at last years p60 and once you're approved, its valid for one year regardless
 
Just to say that we got approved for fingal and we had a credit union loan of 6000 so they are not going to refuse you just on having the loan. Saying that its always paid on time and we managed to clear off all our other loans before application. We had the scottish lady as well. She said not to have over 300 balance on the credit card and also said overdrafts were a big no-no.
 
Prior to the 100% mortgage coming in, I applied to Fingal County Council. What a bunch of clowns they were!!

The woman read my application / bank statement / payslips out loud in a public waiting area. By the end of it everyone knew every single bit of my personal business. I was raging. They were not keen to take €1000 a month rent (paid for previous 3 years) into consideration as evidence that a mortgage of €758 could be paid easily. When I asked for my personal documents to be returned shortly afterwards they sulked and sniped at me for having the cheek to buy a house via a bank. I actually had to slightly angry. I couldnt believe what went on from the moment I applied to the moment I walked away from it.

A complete bunch of jokers and how these people got jobs in this department I do not know.

Be very careful with the affordable housing in Fingal. If you want a realistic look at what these places look like when finished, take a trip up to Brega in Balbriggan at the top of Hamlet Lane. Poor quality, lazy, slapdash, badly shaped, badly finished and no care or interest put into the work when building. Its almost as if the builders were sulking when they built the houses. Some of them have almost triangular front rooms with a 2 seater couch not allowing the door to close if you want a tv in the room too!
 
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