Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 59, 63 and 67 together.

The help-to-buy initiative announced in budget 2017 is an income tax incentive measure designed to assist first-time buyers with the deposit required to purchase or self-build a new house or apartment to live in as their home. With a view to increasing the supply of new housing and stimulating demand, the relief is only available in respect of new builds. In the July 2020 stimulus plan, the scheme was amended so that the level of support available to first-time buyers was increased to the lesser of €30,000 - increased from €20,000, or 10% - increased from 5%, of the purchase price of a new home or self-build property; or the amount of income tax and deposit interest retention tax, DIRT, paid in the four years before the purchase or self-build. The scheme was extended in its enhanced form in budget 2021. The help-to-buy scheme was extended in the Finance Act 2022 for a further two years to the end of 2024. This approach took account of the need for certainty in the market pending an increase in new housing supply envisaged in Housing for All and is in line with a recommendation of the independent review of the scheme completed by Mazars in July 2022.

Applications for the help-to-buy scheme may be made on a provisional basis as first-time buyers seek to clarify their entitlements in advance of commencing the purchase of a property. An application will only progress to the claim stage if and when the applicant decides to purchase a property that is eligible for the scheme. It is at the claim stage that the property address details become available. To the end of April 2023, 39,657 help-to-buy claims had been made, of which 38,924 had been approved. The estimated total value of approved claims to date is in the order of €786.3 million and the total value of approved and pending claims to date is in the order of slightly less than €800 million. I have information about the number of claims relating to properties located in the counties referred to by different Deputies, including Deputy Cahill, where the relief exceeded €20,000 or more than 5% of the purchase price or approved valuation. In Tipperary, that number was 290 claims.

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