Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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178. To ask the Minister for Finance the criteria regarding the qualifying dates for the help-to-buy incentive; if a person who entered into a contract to buy or paid a deposit on a house before 19 July 2016 could qualify for this scheme, considering that the sale of the house would not have been completed before 19 July 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34579/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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To be eligible to apply for the Help to Buy incentive, a first-time buyer must have signed a contract to purchase a new build property on or after the 19th July 2016. In the case of a self-build home, they must have drawn down of the first tranche of the relevant mortgage on or after that date. The full conditions of the scheme and its commencement remain subject to the approval of the Finance Bill 2016 by the Oireachtas.

The date of 19 July was chosen as it was the date of the launch of Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness when the introduction of the incentive was initially announced. The backdating of this incentive was announced at that time with a view to avoiding any potential interruption in house sales, by purchasers who may otherwise have deferred purchases, pending the announcement of full details of the incentive.

It is not clear if the Deputy is seeking a further backdating of the incentive prior to this date but those who entered into contracts to purchase new homes in advance of July 19th last would have made their purchasing decisions without any expectation that they would qualify for any tax relief to be introduced at a future date. Therefore any further backdating of the relief would consist of pure deadweight. As with all time-limited reliefs, there will always be people who just miss out.  I do not intend to extend the parameters of this new measure as to do so would make it less targeted and more costly.