Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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171. To ask the Minister for Finance to reconsider the rule under help to buy that eligibility of a self-build for funding is based on the value of the house post build rather than the cost to purchase and renovate the home. [7005/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Help to Buy (“HTB”) incentive is a scheme to assist first-time purchasers with the deposit they require to buy or build a new house or apartment. The incentive gives a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in Ireland over the previous four years, subject to limits outlined in the legislation.

Based on the latest available data (30 November 2024), the HTB scheme has supported almost 52,000 individuals or couples to buy their own home.

The legislation governing the HTB scheme is set out in section 477C of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and states that in order to be eligible to make a HTB claim, an applicant must either have:

(i) entered into a contract with a qualifying contractor for the purchase of a qualifying residence, that is not a self-build qualifying residence, or

(ii) draw down the first tranche of a qualifying loan in respect of a self-build qualifying residence

A “self-build qualifying residence” is defined as a qualifying residence built, directly or indirectly, by a first-time purchaser on his or her own behalf. A number of HTB eligibility criteria are based on the “approved valuation” of a “self-build qualifying residence”.

Section 477C(1) defines an “approved valuation” as the valuation of a residence approved by the qualifying lender at the time the qualifying loan is entered into. As such, specific HTB eligibility criteria are based on the cost of funding a ”self-build qualifying residence” at the time the associated mortgage is entered in to and not the market value of the residence post-completion.

In addition to other key criteria, to be defined as a qualifying residence, a “self-build qualifying residence” must have an “approved valuation” not exceeding €500,000. Furthermore, the qualifying loan used to build the property must a be minimum of 70% of the “approved valuation” of the property.

The Programme for Government commits to the retention and revision of the HTB scheme. All decisions regarding taxation measures are made in the context of the annual Budget and Finance Bill processes, at the appropriate time and having regard to the sound management of the public finances.