Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 June 2023
116. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance how many people in Cork have benefitted from the enhanced help-to-buy scheme launched in July 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30143/23]
View answerThere are a number of relevant criteria that apply to both the Help to Buy (HTB) Scheme and the Enhanced HTB Scheme. In the case of the HTB Scheme the amount of relief available is the lesser of:
• €20,000,
• 5% of the purchase price or approved valuation, and
• the amount of Income Tax (IT) and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid for the 4 years prior to when the application is made.
The Enhanced HTB scheme allows for relief to the lesser of:
• €30,000,
• 10% of the purchase price or approved valuation, and
• the amount of IT and DIRT paid for the 4 years prior to when the application is made.
I am advised by Revenue that where the actual relief allowed is less than €20,000 it is not possible in the available data to classify claims as being subject to the enhanced HTB scheme, as their relief allowed may have been limited by their IT and DIRT paid, rather than the percentage of the purchase price. However, it is possible to identify those claims where the cost to the Exchequer was impacted by the Enhanced HTB Scheme, that is, the relief allowed is greater than 5% of the purchase price/approved valuation.
I am further advised by Revenue that as of 16 June 2023, the number of approved and pending HTB claims eligible to benefit from the increased relief under the enhanced HTB scheme broken down for Cork is 2,710 with a claim value of €75.1m. These figures set out the number of claims and the amounts claimed for all claims where the relief exceeded €20,000 or exceeded more than 5% of the purchase price/approved valuation.
