Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Help-to-Buy scheme is administered by the Department of Finance and any development or expansion of the scheme comes under the remit of that Department.

I continue to engage with all key stakeholders to support innovation and the delivery of affordable homes under Housing for All.

With that in mind, prior to the announcement of Budget 2024, officials from my Department engaged with local authorities and the Department of Finance in relation to the interaction of Help-to-Buy with the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme (LAAPS).

Following these consultations , the Minister for Finance announced, as part of the budget, some technical amendments to the Help-to-Buy scheme, thereby ensuring its optimal interaction with Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. These changes were legislated for under Finance Bill (No. 2) 2023, which was published by the Minister for Finance on 19 October 2023.

The changes allow the affordable dwelling contribution to be combined with the mortgage to form part of the Loan to Value (LTV) calculation. The LTV is still calculated by reference to the Open Market Value and the 70% threshold must be met in order for an applicant to be eligible for HTB.