Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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80. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to extend the help-to-buy scheme to second-hand homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7963/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government is conscious that there is currently a supply shortage of housing and of the particular challenges faced by first-time buyers. Section 477C of the Taxes Consolidation Act of 1997 provides for The Help to Buy scheme (HTB) which was initially announced on 19 July 2016 as part of the ‘Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness’.

HTB was due to terminate on 31 December 2019, however, in Finance Act 2019 I provided for an extension of the scheme, in its present form, for a further two-year period up to 31 December 2021. This extension aligns with the timeline envisaged for building more homes in Rebuilding Ireland.

An increase in the supply of new housing is fundamental to resolving the current crisis. One of the main aims of the policy underpinning the design of HTB was to help encourage the building of additional new properties. By restricting the scheme solely to new dwellings and new self-builds, it is anticipated that the resulting increase in demand for affordable new build homes will encourage the construction of an additional supply of such properties.

If the scheme were also available for second hand properties, it would have little or no effect on the provision of additional supply, and this would consist primarily of ‘economic deadweight’ in terms of incentive effect. Economic deadweight is an important consideration which is taken into account when evaluating new tax incentive measures and refers to the amount of activity that would have taken place anyway in the absence of an incentive or scheme. The higher the level of deadweight, the less the net benefits of the scheme.

Given these considerations, I can confirm to the Deputy that I do not intend to extend the Help to Buy scheme to second hand properties.