Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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249. To ask the Minister for Finance the eligibility criteria for self-builds under the help to buy scheme; the reason why the market value of the home is used rather than the cost of building that home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46915/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that, in the case of a self-build, the main criteria which apply under the Help to Buy scheme are:

- the claimant must be a first-time buyer,

- the residence must be built directly or indirectly by the first-time buyer,

- a loan must be taken out with a qualifying lender in respect of provision of the self-build, where the loan-to-value ratio is a minimum of 70%,

- the valuation approved by the qualifying lender must not exceed €500,000 unless the first tranche of the loan was drawn down between 19 July 2016 and 31 December 2016, in which case it must not exceed €600,000, and

- the residence must be occupied as the only residence of the first-time buyer for a minimum of 5 years.

For the purposes of valuing a self-build property under Help to Buy, I understand that Revenue follow the criteria used by the Central Bank under its macro-prudential mortgage rules. By way of clarification, these relate to the aggregate of the market value of the land and the estimated costs of construction rather than the market value of the home.