Help to Buy Scheme
The Help to Buy (HTB) incentive is a scheme for first-time property buyers. If you are a first-time buyer, it will help you with the deposit you need to buy or build a new house or apartment. You must buy or build the property to live in as your home.
When you buy or build your home, the incentive will give you a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) that you paid in Ireland over the previous four years.
Application stage
You can apply as an individual, or as part of a group if you are buying or building with other people. You must complete a declaration and select the years you want to use for a refund. If you are tax compliant, your application will be approved and you will be provided with an application number and a summary of the maximum amount you can claim. You will also be given an access code separately through MyEnquiries.
Keep a safe note of both of these codes as you will need to provide them to your lender. If you are buying your home you will also need these codes for your qualifying contractor. If you are self-building you will need these codes for your solicitor. Your contractor or solicitor will require this information to verify what you have submitted.
Finance Solutions
Help to Buy (HTB) incentive
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Who can claim the Help to Buy (HTB) incentive?
To claim HTB, you must:
-be a first-time buyer
-buy or build a new property between 19 July 2016 and 31 December 2019
-live in the property as your main home for five years after you buy or build it
-be tax compliant, if you are self assessed you must also have tax clearance.
To qualify, you must not have previously bought or built a house or apartment, either on your own or jointly with any other person. If you are buying or building the new property with other people, they must also be first-time buyers.
If you are buying the property, you must have signed a contract to buy that property on or after 19 July 2016. If you are self-building, you must have drawn down the first part of the mortgage on or after that date.
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What type of property qualifies?
To qualify for HTB, the property that you build or buy must be your home or newly built with the construction subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) in Ireland.
The property must never have been used, or have been suitable to use, as a residential home. If the property was non-residential, but has been converted for residential use, it may qualify for HTB. If you buy or build the property as an investment, it does not qualify for HTB.
The purchase value of a new build means the price that you bought it for. For self-built property, the purchase value is the approved valuation by the lender at the time that you took out the mortgage. If you bought the property between 19 July 2016 and 31 December 2016, the purchase price must be €600,000 or less. If you bought it after 1 January 2017, it must be €500,000 or less.
You must take out your mortgage on the property with a qualifying lender. This loan must be used only for buying or building the property. The loan must be at least 70% of the purchase value of the property. This is known as the loan to value ratio. You are allowed to have a guarantor on the loan.
