Specialist

The Help to Buy Scheme : A Financial Planners GuideThe Help to Buy Scheme was introduced by the Minister for Finance in Budget 2017. Here are the key facts and figures to consider....

In light of the recent announcement by the Central Bank that they are relaxing the loan to value requirement for first time buyers to 90%, first time buyers are now at a serious advantage over second time buyers when it comes to buy new built houses or apartments. I have gone through the details of the Help to Buy Scheme in further detail below.

What are the tax benefits under the Help to Buy Scheme?

  1. You can claim a tax rebate on any income tax paid in the previous 4 years.
  2. The rebate is 5% of the value of the property up to a maximum of €20,000 per property (not per joint owner).
  3. The rebate is also limited to the actual amount of income tax paid in the previous 4 years. So if you paid less than €20,000 income tax, you get a rebate of the actual income tax paid.

Who can claim benefits under the Help to Buy Scheme?

  1. First time buyers of a house or apartment bought from 19 July 2016 until 31 December 2019.
  2. If being bought by a couple, both have to be first time buyers.
  3. The property must be bought to be your home. The incentive does not apply to properties bought as investments.
  4. You must live in the property for at least 5 years from the time that they property is completed.
  5. The rebate only applies where the loan to value is at least 70%. It is rare that a first time buyer purchases a home with a mortgage less than 70% of the property value.
  6. The loan to value of the The rebate only applies where the loan to value is at least 70%.
  7. The rebate does not apply to house purchases over €600,000.

What does all this mean to me?

This scheme, combined with the relaxing of the deposit required for first time buyers to 10%, has made it a lot easier to get on the property market.

Example – Purchase a property for €300,000
Old rules – €38,000 deposit required
New rules – €30,000 deposit required, of which €15,0000 will be provided through a tax rebate

All we need now are suitable new homes to be built!

Steven Barrett is the Managing Director of Bluewater Financial Planning. He can be contacted at 01 485 3305 or at steven@bluewaterfp.ie