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Affordable Housing
The Affordable Housing Scheme is a Housing scheme whereby Local authorities provide land on which new houses are built and sold at cost price, specifically for low-income buyers. It aims to help lower income households buy their own homes.Local authorities will generally advertise the availability of houses for sale under this scheme in the local press. If there are more eligible applicants than houses, the local authority will determine the order of priority, taking account of household circumstances, etc. The houses may be bought with a mortgage provided by the local authority. The loan can be up to 97% of the price of the house, subject to repayments being no more than 35% of the household net income, i.e., income after tax.
Qualifying Criteria
The following criteria applies:
- You are a first time buyer and in need of housing and your income satisfies the income test
- You a tenant for more than one year of a home provided by a housing association under the Rental Subsidy Scheme and you want to buy a private house and return your present house to the housing association.
- You are registered on a housing waiting list with a local authority, or a local authority tenant or a tenant purchaser and you want to buy a private house and return your present house to the local authority
- You may apply online, there are a number of items that need to be submitted with the application, including the application fee, and therefore you will be contacted by the Housing Dept requesting the relevant documents before the application can be assessed.
Other Information
A minimum deposit of 3% must be paid to the local authority.
Single income household: If your gross income (before tax) in the last income tax year was €40,000 or less, you are eligible.
Two income households: Multiply the gross income (before tax) of the higher earner in the last income tax year by 2.5 and add the gross income of the other earner in the last income tax year. If the answer is €100,000 euro or less, you are eligible.
Households with income less than €28,000 may also be entitled to a mortgage subsidy or the Mortgage Allowance Scheme. The subsidy ranges from €1,300 to €2,550.
A household that does not qualify for this subsidy may qualify for the Mortgage Allowance Scheme.
You may apply online, there are a number of items that need to be submitted with the application, including the application fee, and therefore they you will be contacted by the Housing Dept requesting the relevant documents before the application can be assessed.
FAQ
Selling my house, what do I need to know?
If you sell your house within 10 years, you will have to pay the local authority the difference between the sale price and the market value of the house. This amount will reduce by 10% each year after that, so if you sell after 20 years, you will not have to pay anything to the local authority.
Visit http://www.affordablehome.ie/ a national website that advertises currently available affordable housing.
