Affordable Housing Scheme

Fingal County Council will make homes available at a reduced price for buyers, who are seeking to purchase a newly built home.  It is proposed that these homes will be on Council owned land and through advance purchases from private developers.

The purchaser needs to bridge the gap between their mortgage and deposit to cover the full price of the home.  The Affordable Home Purchase Scheme is aimed at households using their combined deposit and their approved maximum mortgage but who cannot afford the home at its open market value.

The Affordable Home Purchase Scheme provides the purchaser with an ‘Equity Facility’.

The purchaser enters into an Affordable Dwelling Purchase Agreement with Fingal County Council.

The purchaser receives funds from Fingal County Council, in return for the Council taking a percentage ownership in the property purchases.  The percentage ownership that Fingal County Council holds in the home is known as an equity share.

The purchaser can redeem or ‘buy out’ this equity share at a time of their choosing, but there is no obligation to do so. If the purchaser chooses not to redeem the equity share while living in the home, the Council can do so when the property is sold, transferred, or after the death of the owner.

A minimum deposit of 10% of the purchase price of the property will also be required so applicants should ensure they have sufficient savings before applying.

The affordable purchase price will be calculated by Fingal County Council based on the “purchasing power” of eligible applicants. This calculation takes into account applicants maximum mortgage capacity and the minimum price set for the home by the Council.

The purchasing power of applicants will be calculated as the combined total of:

• Maximum mortgage capacity, i.e., 4 times gross household income, plus,
• A minimum deposit of 10% of the affordable purchase price, plus, 
• Relevant savings.

If you have savings above a certain amount, you may not qualify for the scheme. You can have the money to cover the deposit on the home and an additional €30,000. Anything above this is added to your purchasing power. And, if this purchasing power goes above the maximum price set for each home, you are not eligible for the scheme.

More information is available here:

Affordable Housing Scheme | Fingal County Council

All queries on Affordable Housing can be sent to:  affordablehousing@fingal.ie

Local Authority Home Loan

The Local Authority Home Loan (LAHL) is available for first time buyers and Fresh Start applicants who are unable to obtain sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build. It also includes the purchase of homes through State schemes such as the Tenant Purchase Scheme and Affordable Housing Schemes, with the exception of the First Home Scheme.

A Local Authority Home Loan provides up to 90% of the market value of the property. The maximum loan amount is determined by where the property is located.

Maximum market values of the property that can be purchased or self-built are:

• €360,000 in Dublin, Kildare or Wicklow, or
• €330,000 in Cork, Galway, Louth or Meath, or
• €300,000 in Clare, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford, Westmeath or Wexford, or
• €275,000 in Carlow, Cavan, Donegal, Kerry, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo or Tipperary.

Full details of the Local Authority Home Loan, including eligibility criteria, can be found at https://localauthorityhomeloan.ie

First Home Scheme

Aims to make home ownership achievable for thousands of individuals and families by bridging the gap for first-time buyers and other eligible homebuyers between their deposit and mortgage, and the price of their new home.

It is what’s known as a shared equity scheme. This means that homebuyers can receive funds from the Scheme in return for the FHS taking a percentage ownership in the property.

To be eligible for the Scheme you must be over 18 years of age, be a first-time buyer or other eligible homebuyer, have Mortgage Approval with a Participating Lender, borrow the maximum amount available to you from one of the Participating Lenders (up to 4 times your income*), not be availing of a Macro Prudential Exception (MPE) with a Participating Lender, have a minimum deposit of 10% of the property purchase price or build cost (for self-builds, equity in your site can contribute to your deposit.)

*There are no specific household income limits required to participate in the FHS.

To be eligible for the Scheme the property must be a qualifying house or apartment OR a Self-build on a privately owned site OR a house or apartment you are currently renting and residing in and now, looking to purchase having received a Notice of Termination from your landlord, as the landlord is putting the property on the market, be a property in a private development OR on a site in your name in the Republic of Ireland, be your Principal Private Residence and be within the local authority property price ceiling for the property type.

The FHS can fund up to 30% of the property purchase price or build cost (for Self-builds).  This amount is reduced to 20% if you are availing of the Help to Buy Scheme (HTB).  The minimum equity share is 2.5% of the property purchase price or build cost (for self-builds), or €10,000, whichever is higher.

For more information, Home (firsthomescheme.ie)

Help to Buy Scheme

An incentive for first-time property purchasers. It will help you with the deposit you need to purchase or self-build a new house or apartment. You must purchase or self-build the property to live in as your home.

Where you meet the required conditions, you will receive a refund of Irish Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) you paid in Ireland.

The refund will be from the four tax years prior to when you make your application. The refund will not include any refunds you have already claimed.

To claim HTB, you must be a first-time purchaser at the time of the claim, purchase, or self-build, a qualifying property between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2025, live in the property as your main home for five years after you purchase or self-build it and be tax compliant. If you are self-assessed, you must also have tax clearance.  You must take out a mortgage on the property with a qualifying lender. The mortgage must be at least 70% of the purchase value of the property or approved valuation, in the case of a self-build.

Only mortgage loans from qualifying lenders are considered in calculating the 70% loan-to-value ratio. Funding received from the State as part of a Shared-Equity Scheme would not form part of this calculation. 

To qualify, you must not have previously purchased or built a house or apartment, either on your own or jointly with any other person. If you are purchasing or self-building the new property with other people, all of them must be first-time purchasers. If you have inherited, or have been gifted, a property, depending on the circumstances, it may not affect your eligibility.

If you are purchasing the property, you must have signed a contract to purchase that property on, or after, 1 January 2017. If you are self-building, you must have drawn down the first part of the mortgage on, or after, 1 January 2017.

The contractor you are purchasing your home from must be approved by Revenue. You can check the list of approved developers and contractors to ensure that your developer or contractor is approved.  If you are self-building, you do not need to use a Revenue approved contractor. However, you will require a solicitor (registered with Revenue as a ‘HTB approver’) to verify your HTB claim.

To qualify for the Help to Buy Scheme, the property you purchase or self-build must be your home and newly built, with the construction subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) in Ireland.

The property must never have been used, or have been suitable for use, as a residential home. If the property was non-residential, but has been converted for residential use, it may qualify for HTB. If you purchase or self-build the property as an investment, it does not qualify for HTB. 

The purchase value of a new build means the full Open Market Value (OMV) of the property. This is usually the price you purchased it for, unless you paid a reduced price for the property.  The full OMV is the purchase value used for the purposes of HTB, in all cases. The purchase value of the property must be €500,000 or less to qualify for HTB.

If you are self-building a property, the approved valuation is the valuation of the property approved by the lender at the time you took out the mortgage. The approved valuation must be €500,000 or less to qualify for HTB.

You must take out your mortgage on the property with a qualifying lender. This loan must only be used for purchasing, or self-building, the property. The loan must be at least 70% of the purchase value or 70% of the approved valuation.  This is known as the loan to value ratio.

You are allowed to have a guarantor on the loan. The guarantor does not need to be a first-time purchaser.

You are eligible for increased relief under the enhanced HTB scheme if, during the period from 23 July 2020 to 31 December 2025, you sign a contract for the purchase of a qualifying property or make the first draw down of the mortgage, in the case of a self-build qualifying property.

The amount that you can claim is the lesser of €30,000 or 10% of the purchase value of a new home or of the approved valuation of the property, in the case of self-builds, the amount of Income Tax (IT) and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) you have paid for the four years prior to your application.

The maximum payment is €30,000 per qualifying property under the enhanced relief. This cap applies regardless of how many people enter into a contract to purchase the qualifying property.

Universal Social Charge (USC) or Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) are not taken into account when calculating how much you can claim.

If you purchase a qualifying property, the refund will be paid to the qualifying contractor.

If you self-build the qualifying property, the refund will be paid to a bank account you hold with your loan provider.

Further information is available on Help to Buy (HTB) scheme

Incremental Tenant Purchase Scheme for existing local authority houses

This is a scheme for the purchase of existing local authority houses.

If you are a local authority tenant living in a local authority house, that is available for sale under the scheme and you meet the eligibility criteria, you can apply to purchase your house.

Applicants must have a minimum reckonable annual income of €12,500 and be in receipt of social housing supports for at least 10 years. In the case of joint applications, a second or subsequent tenant must also have been in receipt of social housing supports for at least 10 years, as determined by the local authority in accordance with the rules of the scheme.

You will pay the market value of the house – less a discount.

Depending on income, the discounts will vary between 40% and 60%.

In determining a tenant’s minimum annual reckonable income, local authorities can include incomes from employment and private pensions. Certain social protection payments such as the contributory and non-contributory State pensions are included for reckonable income purposes under the Scheme because they are deemed long-term payments. Other social protection payments are disregarded because as they are deemed typically not to be long-term when compared with the term over which a property is purchased under the Scheme.

Your local authority will also place a charge on your house called an ‘incremental purchase charge’. This charge will be equal to the discount you get on the price of the house.

The charge will remain in place for 20, 25 or 30 years (depending on the discount given).

Each year, the local authority will reduce the charge by 2%. At the end of the 20, 25 or 30 years, the charge will be zero as long as you obey the terms and conditions of the scheme.

You must live in the house as your normal place of residence and get agreement from your local authority if you want to sell, let or sub-let the house.

You will be able to resell your house at any time if your local authority agrees. However, if you sell before the end of the 20, 25 or 30 years, you will have to pay back the value of the outstanding charge on your house to your local authority.

Like all homeowners, you will be responsible for maintaining and carrying out repairs on your house from the date you buy it. You will also have to purchase property insurance for your house as a condition of the purchase – and pay for this insurance yourself.

The local authority can refuse to sell the house in particular circumstances such as to tenants or household members involved in anti-social behaviour or with rent arrears.

More information can be obtained at gov.ie – Incremental Tenant Purchase Scheme for existing local authority houses (www.gov.ie)

Name of Grant:  Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability

Provider:  80% exchequer funding through the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with the remaining 20% in funding coming from Fingal County Council.

Aim:  To support home adaptations for older people, those with a disability and people with mobility issues.

Funding: Up to €30,000 to assist people with a disability in carrying out necessary works to make a house more suitable for their needs or up to €8,000 are available to older people to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out on their homes and grants of up to €6,000 are available for mobility aids.

Apply:  Housing-adaptation-grants-older-people-and-people-disability

Housing grants and schemes:

Housing Renewal Energy grants – SEAI.ie

Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant –

Vacant-property-refurbishment-grant

Housing adaptation grant for people with disability –  Adaptation grant for people with disabilities

Housing aid for older persons – Housing aid for older persons

Mobility aids – Mobility aids

Older people housing – Older person housing

Lead piping grant scheme – Lead piping grant

Repair and leasing scheme – Repair and leasing scheme