Help to Buy (HTB) scheme

Who can claim HTB?

To claim HTB, you must:

• be a first-time purchaser at the time of the claim
• purchase, or self-build, a qualifying property between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2025
• live in the property as your main home for five years after you purchase or self-build it
• be tax compliant and, where relevant, have tax clearance in place. For more details please see What do you need to do before you apply
• and
• take out a mortgage on the property with a qualifying lender. The mortgage must be at least 70% of the:
  • purchase value of the property
  • or
  • approved valuation, in the case of a self-build.

Note

Certain shared-equity finance may form part of the loan-to-value ratio. This will depend on the shared-equity scheme you avail of. For more details, please see What is a qualifying property.

To qualify, you must not have previously purchased or built a house or apartment, either on your own or jointly with any other person. If you are purchasing or self-building the new property with other people, all of them must be first-time purchasers. If you have inherited, or have been gifted, a property, depending on the circumstances, it may not affect your eligibility.

If you are purchasing the property, you must have signed a contract to purchase that property on, or after, 1 January 2017. If you are self-building, you must have drawn down the first part of the mortgage on, or after, 1 January 2017.

Approved developers and contractors

The contractor you are purchasing your home from must be approved by Revenue. You can check the list of approved developers and contractors to ensure that your developer or contractor is approved.

If you are self-building, you do not need to use a Revenue approved contractor. However, you will require a solicitor (registered with Revenue as a ‘HTB approver’) to verify your HTB claim.

Next: What is a qualifying property?