People can now apply for the enhanced help-to-buy scheme

The revenue has recently confirmed that the applications for the expanded Help-to-buy scheme has opened. All the first-time property buyers can now start applying for the benefits.  

Prospective homeowners who were paying tax and deposit interest for the past years can also claim for a refund on income tax deposits and deposit interest retention tax.  This will help them to buy a new house or a living space.

Applicants will get back up to 10% of their property value, €30,000 or the total amount of tax they have paid in the last four years.

The first-time buyers have to sign a contract to purchase a new home.

New or self-built property applicants or mortgage holders who have or will sign the contracts or draw down the first trenche of their property, between July 23 and December 31, 2020, are eligible for the new enhanced scheme.

  The revenue made it clear that in order to avail the benefits of the latest scheme, the buyers should submit a new application. Which means that the buyers who had already submitted the application under the HTB scheme, but has the rights or chances for the new scheme should cancel the old application and reapply for the enhanced relief HTB scheme.

Likely, applicants with unverified applications for the old scheme, which satisfies the new requirement scheme can cancel their old application and now reapply for the new enhanced scheme.

By using the Revenue.ie portal, the verified applicants for the original scheme can request for a review through the Revenue.

The new applicants can generate their applications through ‘My Account’ or through Revenue’s Only Service, ROS.

The critics of the scheme says that the help to buy scheme has some defects, it disproportionately helps the rich or the high earners to gain even more of the property by pushing the house price even higher.

The expansion of the scheme was also welcomed by the Irish Home Builders Association. The members of the Labour and Sinn Fein stood for the scheme to be scrapped entirely.

Pearse Doherty, Sinn Fein’s finance spokesperson said that the scheme will concrete the pricing behaviors of the developers.

€260,000 was the national median average price for a house sold in the last one year from May. These are the figures the latest CSO property price index.