Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 October 2019
104. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Finance the number of help-to-buy grant approvals on a monthly basis since the scheme was launched; the number of drawdowns in this regard since the scheme was introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41434/19]
View answerThe Help To Buy tax incentive (HTB), announced in Budget 2017 and backdated to 19 July 2016, is designed to assist first-time buyers with the deposit required to purchase or self-build a new house or apartment to live in as their home.
HTB has a two main stages: the application stage and the claim stage. Compliant taxpayers who complete a HTB application are provided with an application number and a summary of the maximum relief available to them under the incentive. A mortgage provider, broker, qualifying contractor or solicitor can use this summary to verify the relief available to the applicant, for the purposes of mortgage approval or drawdown, or signing a house purchase contract. Revenue advise me that, to end September 2019 (the most recent month for which data are available), they have received 32,885 HTB applications.
An application will progress to the claim stage where the applicant decides to purchase a property that is eligible for the scheme. Many applications may never progress to the claim stage because the applicant does not purchase a property or purchases a property not eligible for the scheme. Revenue advise me that, to end September 2019, some 15,357 HTB claims have been made.
Claims made cannot be approved and paid until the qualifying contractor, or the solicitor acting on behalf of self-builder, has verified the claim. Claims are approved by Revenue in the vast majority of cases but at any given time there will be a number of pending claims awaiting approval. Revenue advise me that a total of 14,571 claims have been approved under the HTB scheme up to end September 2019.
The Deputy has requested a monthly breakdown of the number of HTB approvals since the scheme was launched, and the number of drawdowns in this regard. The following table outlines the number of HTB claims approved on a monthly basis since the scheme was introduced in 2017, up to end September 2019 (the most recent month for which data are available).
|
Month/Year |
Claims Approved |
|
Sept 2019 |
616 |
|
Aug 2019 |
660 |
|
Jul 2019 |
628 |
|
Jun 2019 |
581 |
|
May 2019 |
574 |
|
Apr 2019 |
469 |
|
Mar 2019 |
562 |
|
Feb 2019 |
374 |
|
Jan 2019 |
317 |
|
Dec 2018 |
371 |
|
Nov 2018 |
519 |
|
Oct 2018 |
419 |
|
Sep 2018 |
687 |
|
Aug 2018 |
136 |
|
Jul 2018 |
438 |
|
Jun 2018 |
440 |
|
May 2018 |
427 |
|
Apr 2018 |
430 |
|
Mar 2018 |
394 |
|
Feb 2018 |
369 |
|
Jan 2018 |
336 |
|
Dec 2017 |
442 |
|
Nov 2017 |
520 |
|
Oct 2017 |
431 |
|
Sept 2017 |
453 |
|
Aug 2017 |
469 |
|
Jul 2017 |
599 |
|
Jun 2017 |
448 |
|
May 2017 |
525 |
|
Apr 2017 |
423 |
|
Mar 2017* |
534 |
*This figure represents all claims approved in respect of the period 19 July 2016- March 2017.
Section 477C of the Taxes Consolidation Act of 1997, which provides for the Help To Buy incentive, currently includes a sunset clause of 31 December 2019. In my Budget 2020 speech on Tuesday, I announced that I intend to amend the legislation to provide for an extension of HTB, in its present form, for a further two-year period up to 31 December 2021. This extension aligns with the timeline envisaged for building more homes in Rebuilding Ireland.
