First introduced in April 2014, Help-to-Buy was a government initiative aimed at boosting the construction of new homes by making it easier for first-time buyers to get funds together to get on the property ladder. Latest figures show that almost 30,000 first-time buyers had applied for the grant by the end of May, while the Government has spent €177.5 million incentivising first-time buyers since 2014. Help-to-Buy is a tax rebate allowing putative home-buyers to claim a refund of income tax (but not USC or PRSI) and deposit interest retention tax (DIRT) paid in Ireland over the previous four years. The scheme is specifically aimed at encouraging construction of new homes, and is only available to first-time buyers. It would be reasonable to expect that a scheme aimed at helping first-time buyers purchase a home would be biased towards helping those on lower incomes.

Source: The Irish Times July 08, 2019 15:00 UTC