Wicklow Senator Pat Casey has praised the Help to Buy Scheme as making a real difference to the 1,354 families in Wicklow who have successfully availed of the scheme to allow them to purchase or build their first home. “Having worked with Minister Darragh O’Brien and his colleagues on this scheme, I am delighted to see that since it was rolled out that so many people have been successful in securing financial support to buy a home.
“So far 32,666 HTB claims had been made, of which 31,841 were approved. The estimated total value of approved HTB claims to date is in the order of €599.0 million and the total value of approved and pending HTB claims to date is in the order of €614.6 million. Of these 1,326 have been approved for Wicklow plus another 28 in first quarter this year bringing a total of 1,354”
“The Help to Buy incentive offers first-time purchasers of a new house / apartment the opportunity to avail of a refund on Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in the State over the previous four years, subject to limits outlined in Section 477C of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. One of the policy aims of the incentive is to assist first-time buyers of new homes to fund the deposit required under the Central Bank’s macro-prudential rules. The other is to encourage the building of additional new properties.”
A €500,000 price ceiling applies under the scheme, although a €600,000 maximum applied previously where, in the period from 19 July 2016 to 31 December 2016, a contract for the purchase of a new house was entered into, or in the case of a self-build, the first tranche of a qualifying loan was drawn down by the claimant. Help to Buy allows claimants to select all or any of the previous four tax years for the purposes of calculating the refund available to them. Enhancements to the scheme were provided for in Section 8 of the Financial Provisions (COVID-19) (No. 2) Act 2020 such that the maximum rebate is currently the lower of:
- €30,000 (increased in 2020 from €20,000);
- the total income tax and DIRT paid in the previous four years; or
- 10 per cent (increased in 2020 from 5 per cent) of the purchase price of a new build property, including self-builds.
“Home ownership is a key aspiration of working people all over Wicklow and I know that with the evidence of success of Help to Buy, the new Shared Equity Scheme the increase in Part V and further measures will be introduced to ensure that the ability to buy or build a home all over our County is available to all who wish to do so.”
