Buying a home may seem like an overwhelming challenge between saving for that all important deposit to finding a home that suits your circumstances and putting home finance in place.

There are Government supports available to help you towards owning your own home. Housing for All is the Government’s national housing plan to 2030 which offers various schemes and incentives to support home ownership and make housing affordable, accessible and energy efficient.

MortgageOne is also here to help you to get your first mortgage, working with a range of lenders to get you the best mortgage at the lowest rate. Try our mortgage calculator to see how much you could borrow.

First Time Buyer Grants

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Who qualifies as a first time buyer?

Definitions may vary slightly for the different schemes but a first time buyer is usually someone who has never bought, had a financial interest in or built a property either on their own or with another person or has never previously had a housing loan. You must not own or have an interest in any property in Ireland or abroad. 

Generally when applying for any government supports for first time buyers, if the application is a joint application both parties must be first time buyers.

What is a Fresh Start applicant?

If you have previously bought a home but no longer have a financial interest in the property, either through divorce, separation, or bankruptcy, then you are considered a fresh start applicant and may qualify for some of the Government home buying supports.

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Government supports for first time buyers

If you are a first time buyer in Ireland, the following schemes are available to help you buy your first home. 

The Help to Buy Scheme is aimed at supporting first time buyers to buy a new house or apartment or self build a new home. Budget 2025 extended this scheme until 31 December 2029.

Help to Buy is a refund of income tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in the four years prior to the year of application up to a limit of €30,000 or 10% of the home’s purchase price or approved valuation in the case of self build homes.

You must purchase the home with a mortgage from a qualifying mortgage lender with at least 70% loan to value ratio or your mortgage must be for at least 70% of the value of the completed home if you are self building.

The value of the home must be less than €500,000. If you are purchasing the home through a shared equity scheme such as the First Home Scheme or the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme, then any funding from the scheme is not considered when calculating the loan to value ratio. This means that you must be borrowing 70% of the total value of the home including the shared equity rather than the portion of the home’s value that you are paying for with the mortgage.

The property you buy or build must be a residential property that you intend to live in for at least five years. This scheme is not available to fresh start applicants and if you are purchasing or building the home with another person, they must also be a first time buyer.

The First Home Scheme is a shared equity, affordable housing scheme to allow first time buyers and fresh start applicants to purchase or build their own home. 

The Tenant Home Purchase Scheme also allows tenants to purchase the home that they are renting from their landlord is a branch of the First Home Scheme.

The Government and participating banks may pay up to 30% (or 20% if you are availing of Help to Buy) of the home’s purchase price in return for ownership of a proportion of your new home. You may buy back this portion at any time but you can choose not to.

You must purchase a new home or build a new home on your own site (with some build conditions), and you must intend to reside in the property. 

The house purchase price, or approved valuation in the case of self build homes, must be within the price limit for your local authority. The highest limits are in Dublin and Cork cities and parts of Dublin and are currently €475,000 for a house or self build house and €500,000 for an apartment (November 2024).

Participating banks include Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, and Allied Irish Bank (AIB, Haven, EBS). You must borrow the maximum amount available to you, which is 4 times your gross income as a first time buyer. You must also have a deposit which is 10% of the home’s purchase price or build cost.

There is no charge for the First Home Scheme but, if you do not buy back the bank’s share of your home’s equity, service charges will apply after Year 6. These are 1.75% for years 6 to 15, 2.15% for years 16 to 29, and 2.85% for years 30+. The percentages are based on the FHS purchase price of your home. If you cannot pay these charges you can pay a reduced amount or pause or defer them but they will have to be paid if the house is sold or when you die.

This is a local authority shared equity scheme where, in areas of greatest housing need and where homes are least affordable, you can purchase a new local authority provided home at a discount.

The local authority will own a stake in your home in return for the discount provided. You can buy back this stake at any time but if you do not you must buy it back after 40 years or when you sell the home.

You can fund your portion of the home with a mortgage from a bank or mortgage lender, or you may qualify for a Local Authority Home Loan. You may also qualify for Help to Buy to fund your deposit.

You must have a deposit of 10% of the purchase price of the home. There are also limits to the amount that you can have as savings. You must intend to reside in the home.

This scheme is open to first time buyers or fresh start applicants. Your income must be below a certain level. 4 times your gross income is taken as your ‘purchasing power’ and this total must  be less than 85.5% of the open market value of the home. Alternatively, you must have proof from a bank or lender that you cannot get a mortgage for 85.5% of the home’s value.

Local authorities can run and advertise their own schemes and will set prices for the affordable homes.

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is intended to provide an incentive to bring vacant or derelict properties into use as residential homes. It is sustainable as it brings existing properties back into use as homes.

This Grant is not limited to first time buyers but could help in purchasing a first home.

There are two strands to this scheme:

  • Vacant properties which have not been in use for two years or more and are renovated to live or rent, including conversion of non residential property, can qualify for a grant of €50,000.
  • Derelict properties which are structurally unsound or on the Derelict Sites Register, and are also vacant, may be eligible for a grant of €70,000.

A SEAI Better Energy Home Scheme grant which covers works of up to €26,750 may also be available with this scheme.

The Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Loan (LAPR) scheme is a local authority provided loan to allow first time buyers and fresh start applicants to buy and renovate a derelict or uninhabitable home.

It is available in conjunction with the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant. There are limits on the estimated value of the property following refurbishment and the affordability of the loan based on your income. 

The scheme is intended for applicants who cannot borrow from commercial lenders. There are also different levels of support depending on the condition of the property you intend to purchase. The project must be viable and you must intend to live in the property on completion.

This is a government backed home loan which is available to first time buyers and fresh start applicants who are in employment but earning a maximum of €70,000 for a single applicant or €85,000 for a joint applicant. It is intended to support those who are finding it difficult to obtain finance from commercial lenders.

The loan can be used to buy a new or second hand home, or to build a new home. You will need to have 10% of the home’s purchase price as a deposit and can be used in conjunction with the Help to Buy Scheme. 

The loan can provide up to 90% of the maximum market value of a property in your area. These maximum market values vary by location. €360,000 is the maximum market value for Dublin, Kildare, and Wicklow.

There are conditions around affordability based on your income and the scheme cannot be used with the First Home Scheme.

The Ready to Build Scheme provides a discount of up to €30,000 on local authority provided serviced sites in regional towns and villages to individual purchasers for the purpose of building their own home to live in.

The discount will be on the market value of the site and will depend on the cost to the local authority of providing services such as electricity, water, and wastewater. 

The scheme is not exclusive to first time buyers or fresh start purchasers but they will be prioritised in allocation of sites.

If you wish to sell or rent out your home before ten years has elapsed, there may be a claw back of the discount provided by the local authority.

MortgageOne mortgage specialists

MortgageOne is a long established and trustworthy financial services company who can help you to get finance for your first home. 

We work with a range of lenders and our mortgage specialists are experts in finding you the best mortgage for your circumstances. We also work with specialist lenders if your circumstances are not ideal.

Try our mortgage calculator and see how much you could borrow based on your income and deposit. 

Do not be daunted by the complexity of a first time property purchase, our advisors will be with you every step of the way and can assist and advise you on your mortgage application.

When the time comes to consider mortgage protection and home insurance, MortgageOne can also advise you and get you great quotes.

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