Ireland Help to Buy (HTB) scheme explained

Are you a first-time buyer seeking help to purchase your home? The Help to Buy (HTB) scheme in Ireland, now extended until the end of 2025, is designed to help you with funding the mortgage deposit for a new home. In this guide, we’ll cover how the Help to Buy scheme works, how to calculate your tax refund, the criteria for Help to Buy, property requirements, and the application process.

The Help to Buy (HTB) scheme is a Government initiative designed to help first-time buyers in Ireland with the cost of a mortgage deposit for a new home or self-build project. This scheme specifically targets buyers who plan to live in their new home.

Operating as a tax refund, the Help to Buy scheme allows eligible applicants to receive a refund of income tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in Ireland over the four years prior to their application. The refunded amount can reach a maximum of €30,000, depending on the purchase price of the home and other factors.

Figures released by Revenue show that 48,097 HTB claims have been approved since the scheme launched, with a total value of approximately €1.03 billion*.

Under the Help to Buy scheme in Ireland, you can claim a refund of income tax and DIRT paid over the past four years. DIRT is a tax on any interest you have earned from savings in bank accounts. 

In July 2020, the Help to Buy scheme was enhanced to offer increased support. 

The refund you receive will be the lesser of the following:

• 10% of the home’s purchase price

• The total income tax and DIRT you’ve paid over the past four years

• The maximum refund of €30,000

This enhanced scheme is in effect from 23 July 2020 to 31 December 2025. To qualify, you need to sign a purchase contract or make the first drawdown of your mortgage (in the case of a self-build) within these dates.

The Revenue Help to Buy scheme was first introduced in 2017 to help first-time buyers purchase new homes and encourage more new housing developments. Initially, it was set to run until the end of 2019, but was later extended to December 2020 to support the Irish economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the original scheme, the refund process was similar to the enhanced HTB scheme, but with a lower limit. You could receive up to €20,000, based on 5% of the property’s market value or approved valuation.

If you signed a contract for a new home or took out a self-build mortgage between 1 January 2017 and 22 July 2020, you would have qualified for this original Help to Buy relief. 

To be eligible for the Help to Buy scheme in Ireland, you need to be a first-time buyer, and to buy - or have a mortgage for self-building - a qualifying home. Here is a list of the Help to Buy scheme eligibility criteria:

1. First-time buyer

   • You must be a first-time buyer when you apply.

   • If you are buying or building a new property with others, every person involved must also be a first-time buyer. None of you can have previously owned or built a residential property.

2. Property requirements

   • You must either purchase or self-build a qualifying property between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2025. 

   • The property must be purchased for €500,000 or less, or, for self-builds, have an approved valuation below that amount.

   • You must live in the property as your main home for at least five years after you buy or build it. If not, you will have to repay the HTB refund.

3. Tax compliance

   • You need to be up-to-date with your taxes and fully tax-compliant for the four years immediately preceding your application.

4. Mortgage requirement

   • You must obtain a mortgage from an approved lender, covering at least 70% of the property’s purchase price or its approved valuation for self-builds. For example, if the property costs €400,000, your mortgage must be at least €280,000.

If you are using shared equity schemes like the First Home Scheme, this funding does not count towards the loan-to-value ratio for the Help to Buy scheme. Only the mortgage amount is considered.

This also used to be the case with the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. However, with changes brought in under Budget 2024, the affordable dwelling contribution from the Local Authority can now be included in the loan-to-value calculation. This means the funding will count towards meeting the 70% LTV requirement for Help to Buy.

Say you’ve found a property in Ireland, and you want to get help to pay for your mortgage deposit with the Help to Buy scheme. Here’s how you can calculate your potential refund under the HTB scheme:

Scenario:

• Purchase price of the property: €300,000

• Mortgage amount: €240,000 (80% of the purchase price)

• Income tax paid in the last four years: €15,000

HTB calculation:

Help to Buy in Ireland offers a rebate of up to 10% of the property purchase price. For a €300,000 property, 10% is €30,000. However, the refund is capped at the total income tax and DIRT you’ve paid in the last four years. 

In this case, with €15,000 in taxes paid, your rebate is limited to €15,000. Thus, you would receive a refund of €15,000.

Yes, the Help to Buy scheme in Ireland is only for new builds. It cannot be used for second-hand homes. To qualify for Help to Buy, the property must be a newly constructed house or apartment, meaning it should never have been used or suitable for residential use before.

However, if the property was originally a non-residential building but has been converted into a residential space, it might still qualify for the scheme. For example, a former office building converted into apartments could potentially be eligible.

The HTB scheme is not for properties bought solely as investments. It is meant to help individuals and families buy their own homes, not for rental or resale purposes.

You can apply for the Help to Buy scheme in Ireland as an individual or a group, provided everyone meets the first-time buyer eligibility criteria.

To apply, you can follow these steps:

1. Determine your tax status:

   • For PAYE employees: Use Revenue’s myAccount service.

   • For self-employed taxpayers: Use Revenue’s Online Service (ROS).

2. Access MyEnquiries: Make sure you have access to MyEnquiries to communicate with Revenue.

3. Submit your application:

   • Log in to myAccount or ROS.

   • Provide details about the property, such as the purchase price and completion date.
   • Include financial information like mortgage details, the deposit already paid, and, if applicable, details of any affordable dwelling contribution.

Revenue has put together a detailed guide for applicants (pdf) to take you through each step of this process.

Applications for the Help to Buy scheme in Ireland are split into three stages: the application, claim, and verification stages. 

1. Application stage: This is where your tax compliance and eligibility are checked. You’ll receive an application number and a confirmation of the maximum tax relief you can claim, along with an expiry date for making your claim.

2. Claim stage: You can proceed to this stage after signing a purchase contract or drawing down the first part of your mortgage (for self-builds).

3. Verification stage: A qualifying contractor or solicitor (for self-builds) will verify your claim.

If your tax records are in order, the process should be fairly smooth. Once everything is verified, your refund will be processed promptly.

Once your application is approved by Revenue, the Help to Buy refund is paid in different ways depending on whether you buy or build your home:

• For buying a new home: The refund is paid directly to the approved contractor who is selling you the home. To ensure the property qualifies for the scheme, it must be bought from a registered contractor. You can find a list of these contractors on the Revenue website (www.revenue.ie).

• For self-builds: If you are building your own home, the refund is paid into your bank account that you have with your mortgage provider.

If you follow the Help to Buy scheme eligibility rules, you won’t need to repay any refund issued as part of the scheme. However, if you sell or move out of your home within five years of moving in, you may need to repay part of the refund. The amount you repay decreases the longer you stay in the home.

Repayment, or “clawback” as Revenue calls it, can also occur if you didn’t complete the purchase or self-build, or if you provided incorrect information in your application.

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*https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/tax-expenditures/help-to-buy-stats.pdf