'We should consider expanding' rent-a-room scheme, Taoiseach says

While the Government is focused on delivering new housing supply, Mr Martin said it is also considering ways of 'sweating the existing housing stock'. File picture

Homeowners could be in line for extra tax relief for renting out rooms, after the Taoiseach raised the possibility of changes to the rent-a-room scheme.

Micheál Martin has suggested “expanding” the existing rent-a-room scheme, which currently allows homeowners to receive up to €14,000 tax-free per year for providing a room to a lodger.

While the Government is focused on delivering new housing supply, Mr Martin said it is also considering ways of “sweating the existing housing stock”.

“The rent-a-room scheme has been very effective for student accommodation and, more generally, where somebody who’s living alone in a three-bedroom house can rent out a room and get tax relief.

“That’s something that we should consider expanding in my view because I’m not sure we have sweated the existing asset enough.”

Asked if this could include increasing the tax relief available to people or increasing the number of rooms rentable, Mr Martin said that it was something that should be discussed.

“These are the kind of initiatives that we are looking at.”

Mr Martin said the rent-a-room scheme has been effective to “bridge the gap” to purpose-built student accommodation.

Help-to-Buy scheme

Meanwhile, Mr Martin said Fianna Fáil would not be pushing for a €20,000 increase in the Help-to-Buy relief, saying the party would focus on increasing capital allocation to the Department of Housing.

It comes after Tánaiste Simon Harris ruled out any increase to the Help-to-Buy scheme.

Despite this, Mr Martin added that removing stamp duty for first-time buyers was an issue Fianna Fáil has put on the table, despite repeated efforts by Mr Harris to reject the proposal.

Mr Martin was also questioned if the public could expect to see a substantial cut to childcare fees, telling reporters that the Government “want to alleviate pressures on families with children”.

Mr Harris suggested that the tax package may grow slightly, "if we decide to do other discretionary taxes or indeed a bank levy or the likes," but he said his focus will be on income tax changes.

Mr Harris said his job is to "follow the programme for government" and he does not intend to bring forward any new taxation measures around housing.