First Time Home Buyers 2027

Help to Buy has risen to €35,000. Here is what each State scheme pays, who qualifies, and how they add up on a €400,000 new home.

Since 7 October 2026, Help to Buy can give a first-time buyer back up to €35,000 of the income tax they paid. That is €5,000 more than before, and it runs to 31 December 2029. It is one of five State schemes for first homes.

Five schemes, five different kinds of help

Some give you money back, some take a share of your home, and one lends you the mortgage. You can combine some, but not all.

Help to Buy now pays up to €35,000

Help to Buy refunds income tax and DIRT you paid in the four tax years before you apply. DIRT is the tax taken from the interest on your savings. You get the lowest of three amounts: €35,000, 10% of the price, or the tax you actually paid.

The home must be newly built, or a self-build, and cost €500,000 or less. Your mortgage must be at least 70% of the price. This is the loan-to-value rule: the size of your loan compared with the value of the home.

“increase the maximum refund a first-time buyer can claim by €5,000, to €35,000, with immediate effect.”— Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris, Budget 2027 statement, 6 October 2026

In 2025, Revenue approved 9,575 claims worth about €252.9 million. The average home in those claims was valued at €418,500.

First Home buys a slice of your home

The First Home Scheme fills the gap between your deposit plus mortgage and the price of a new home. In return it takes an equity share: it owns a percentage of your home until you buy it back.

It can fund up to 30% of the price, or 20% if you also use Help to Buy. The minimum is 2.5% or €10,000, whichever is higher. You need a 10% deposit, and you must borrow the most a participating lender will give you.

A yearly service charge of 1.75% starts in year six if you still owe the share. To buy it back, you pay the same percentage of the home's value at that time.

Your council can lend you the mortgage

The Local Authority Home Loan is a State-backed mortgage from your council. It lends up to 90% of the value of the home. The rate is fixed: 4.00% (APR 4.07%) up to 25 years, or 4.05% (APR 4.13%) up to 30 years.

Since 1 April 2026, the income limit is €80,000 for a single person and €85,000 for a couple. You cannot use it with First Home. The home's price must be under the cap for your area:

• €415,000: Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow
• €375,000: Cork, Galway City, Meath
• €345,000: Galway County, Louth, Clare, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford
• €310,000: Carlow, Cavan, Donegal, Kerry, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary

Cheaper new homes and grants for empty ones

Under the Starter Home Purchase Scheme (until 2026 the Affordable Purchase Scheme), councils and the Land Development Agency sell some new homes below market value. The council keeps a share equal to the discount.

To qualify, four times your gross income must come to less than 85.5% of the home's market value. Homes are advertised one at a time on council websites and NewStarterHomes.ie.

If you buy an older empty home, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant pays up to €50,000 towards the work. A derelict home can get up to €70,000. It must have been built before 2008 and be empty for at least two years.

The limits every bank works within

The Central Bank sets limits on mortgage lending. A first-time buyer can usually borrow up to four times their gross income. You need a deposit of at least 10%, so the loan can be no more than 90% of the price.

Banks may go above these limits for up to 15% of first-time buyer loans, but that is their choice.

The median is the middle price. In Kildare it was €450,000. There were 1,811 first-time buyer purchases in August 2026, up from 1,617 a year earlier.

Stamp duty is 1% on homes up to €1 million. On a new home you pay it on the price without VAT, so Revenue's €400,000 example comes to about €3,524.

Worked example: a €400,000 new home in Kildare

This is an illustration only. A couple earn €80,000 a year between them and paid over €35,000 in income tax in four years. Their new €400,000 home is under the Kildare First Home ceiling of €475,000.

• Deposit needed (10%): €40,000
• Help to Buy: €35,000, so they save €5,000 themselves
• Mortgage at four times income: €320,000, or 80% of the price
• Gap left: €400,000 minus €40,000 minus €320,000 = €40,000
• First Home share: €40,000, which is 10% of the home
• Stamp duty on top: about €3,524, plus legal fees

The mortgage is 80% of the price, so it passes the Help to Buy 70% rule. Buying back the 10% share when the home is worth €450,000 would cost €45,000.

The order to apply in

1. Check the income tax and DIRT you paid over the last four years in Revenue myAccount.
2. Save a deposit of at least 10% of the price you expect to pay.
3. Get mortgage approval in principle from a lender, or apply to your council for a Local Authority Home Loan.
4. Apply for Help to Buy in myAccount, or ROS if you are self-employed.
5. If you need First Home, apply online with your approval in principle and check your area's price ceiling.
6. Sign the contract, then make your Help to Buy claim; your builder or solicitor verifies it.