Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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73. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if media reports are accurate that her Department is seeking the extension of first-time buyer's grants to purchasers of second-hand homes in rural areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4075/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I presume that the Deputy is referring to the new Help to Buy (HTB) incentive that was announced as part of Budget 2017 by my colleague the Minister for Finance. This initiative is designed to help first-time buyers of newly built homes to assemble the required deposit. It also applies to once-off self-build homes.

I can confirm that my Department has not sought the extension of the initiative to first time buyers of second hand homes in rural areas.

However, I have quite separately announced that as part of an enhanced Town and Village Renewal scheme this year, I intend to launch a pilot to encourage residential occupancy in rural towns and villages. The pilot will examine ways in which properties that are currently not in use in town centres can be renovated to allow them to be used for residential purposes. This pilot will be launched in the second half of the year, when details of the scheme have been finalised in consultation with relevant Departments.