Thomas Gould
Question:128. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the shared equity scheme will be operational.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10417/22]
View answerWednesday, 23 February 2022
Questions (128)
Written answers
The Affordable Housing Act 2021, which I commenced in August 2021, laid the provisions for the introduction of two new affordable purchase schemes: an affordable purchase scheme delivered via Local Authorities and the Land Development Agency delivering primarily on own lands, and also the national First Home shared equity scheme supporting purchases in the private market.
Part 4 of the Act provides the basis for the establishment of the First Home Scheme. The scheme will support first-time buyers on moderate incomes in purchasing new-build homes by means of an equity stake model, similar to that used in the Local Authority Affordable Purchase scheme. First Home will be subject to regional price ceilings reflective of the median prices paid by first-time buyers for new-build homes, so it is an intervention to assist buyers in the lower area of the home price distribution. The scheme will be targeted at those who have insufficient funds to purchase one of these homes using the mortgage and deposit available to them, and will use equity support to ‘bridge the gap’.
Budget 2022 allocated €44 million to my Department for First Home. The banking sector has confirmed it is committed to working with the State to develop and deliver this scheme, and has agreed in principle to match this State funding in order to increase the pool of funding available to potential new homeowners. Subject to the necessary approvals by all parties, it is anticipated that the First Home scheme will operate for the period 2022 to 2025, utilising overall funding of c. €400m to provide support to c. 8,000 households to purchase new homes.
The scheme will be operated via the First Home Scheme Ireland Designated Activity Company, which has recently been incorporated. Significant work is continuing on the detailed design and parameters of the scheme, and full details including scheme conditionality will be confirmed upon completion of this work. It is anticipated that initial activity on key areas of work, including public communications, will be conducted early in May of this year, in advance of the first receipt of applications and deployment of equity support, scheduled for end Q2.