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Only around half of more than 6,000 would-be home buyers approved for the First Home Scheme (FHS) have completed a purchase and gotten their keys, according to official data. A gap between approvals can be a timing issue, particularly where new builds are bought off the plans — but the difference between the number of buyers approved and those drawing down the funds is high. The FHS is a shared equity scheme launched in July 2022 to bridge the so called “affordability gap” between the price of new homes and the amount that a typical first-time buyer can borrow.
Under the scheme, the State will pay up to 30pc of the market value of a home in return for a stake in the ownership of the property. Read more Over 3,000 homes have been bought and 6,047 first-time buyers have been approved under the First Home Scheme (FHS) since its launch in 2022, according to figures published today. Since its introduction, 13,587 potential buyers have registered their interest.
Of those would-be buyers approved, 74pc are based in the high-demand areas of Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. It is proving itself as an excellent support for first-time buyers The Department of Housing said in October it was expanding the scheme with an additional €200m, to bring available funds for first-time homeowners up to €680m. The scheme’s year-end report for 2024 shows a rising take up, with 61pc more homes being bought with FHS last year, compared to 2023.
Out of the 3,053 homes that have been bought using the scheme, 1,797 were purchased in 2024. Houses with a price of up to €475,000 and apartments priced up to €500,000 are eligible under the scheme. The average purchase price for homes bought by the end of 2024 was €384,752.
In these cases, the scheme covered around 17 pc of the purchasing price, amounting to an average support of €65,998. Buyers using the FHS can also use the separate Help to Buy scheme. Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien.
Photo: PA The First Home Scheme is a partnership between the State and three banks: AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB, which provide mortgages alongside the equity. It is also open to other authorised mortgage lenders in the Irish market who wish to join the scheme. “Since the scheme is working so well, the State and the participating mortgage lenders have committed €280m in additional funding to it, bringing the total to €680m,” Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said.
“It is proving itself as an excellent support for first-time buyers who are looking to bridge the affordability gap. The scheme is also delivering for tenants who want to buy their home when their landlord decides to sell, and for people who want to build their own home.” The minister also announced a further widening of the eligibility criteria for Kildare, Kilkenny and Louth following the completion of its review of price ceilings, increasing the choices available to scheme users and increasing their applicable price ceilings by €25,000.
In April 2023, the scope of the scheme was extended to include the Tenant Home Purchase Scheme for renters who wished buy their home from a landlord who has issued them with a Notice of Termination and has indicated a wish to sell. So far, 214 approvals have been issued to tenants by the end last year. In September of the same year, it was also expanded to include self-builders who have a site but do not have the funding to complete the construction.
Under this provision, the scheme has seen 95 approvals. Read more.
