Under 3% of recipients have had to return Help to Buy payment

Finance minister Paschal Donohoe said that 934 HTB claimants over the last five years did not meet the relevant criteria. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Less than 3% of first-time buyers utilising the Help to Buy (HTB) scheme over the last five years have had to either return the assistance payment or have Revenue claw it back over failing to meet the criteria, the finance minister has said.

The HTB scheme was first introduced in January 2017 in order to help support first-time buyers to either buy a newly-built house or apartment or self build a new home.

The scheme gives a refund of income tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax paid in Ireland over the previous four years in order to help purchase the home.

The scheme only applies to properties that cost €500,000 or less and the buyer must live in the property as their primary residence.

In response to a parliamentary question on the matter, finance minister Paschal Donohoe said that in order to avail of the HTB payment, a home must be occupied for a minimum period of five years by the first-time buyer as their only main residence.

“Where this condition is not met the HTB payment has to be repaid to Revenue,” the minister said.

Where occupation ceases within the five-year period, the HTB claimant is required to notify Revenue accordingly.

“The HTB payment will also have to be repaid to Revenue if, in the case of a self build, the property is not completed within two years of receiving the HTB payment or where it transpires that the claimant was not entitled to claim a HTB payment,” he said.

Mr Donohoe said that he has been advised by Revenue that there has been 36,139 HTB scheme claims processed between 2019 and 2024, of which 934 claimants did not meet the relevant criteria, approximately 2.6%, and “either had the claim clawed back or voluntarily cancelled their claim and returned the payment in the same period”.

To qualify for the scheme, a claimant must take out a mortgage which must be at least 70% of the purchase value of the newly built property or the valuation approved by the mortgage provider if the mortgage is for someone building their own home.

Under the scheme, a claimant can get relief to the tune of €30,000 or 10% of the market value of a new build property, or approved valuation of a self build property, whichever one is lower.