First Homes scheme will not cover second-hand houses in Budget 2026, Taoiseach says

Micheál Martin says October’s budget will prioritise boosting new housing supply, ruling out extending the First Homes scheme to second-hand properties

The Taoiseach said: 'The priority will be on new builds, and to try and target all the resources to new builds.' File photo

There will be no extension of the State's First Homes scheme to those purchasing second-hand homes, the Taoiseach has said.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to expand the scheme for first-time buyers of second-hand homes, while also promising to increase targets and extend the supports out to 2030, and an expansion had been under consideration as recently as this summer.

The issue had been raised a number of times during the election campaign last year, particularly by government backbenchers.

However, speaking in New York, Micheál Martin said he did not foresee that measure being part of next month's budget, saying that the focus would be on encouraging more homes to be built.

"I think, in this budget, the priority will be on new builds, and to try and target all the resources to new builds.

"The Programme for Government stands to be implemented over a five-year period. So obviously, not everything in the Programme for Government can be implemented in year one or in the budget. 

"So the priority and targeting this year will be more on how we can encourage new builds."

Asked if this meant that the scheme would not be expanding in the budget, Mr Martin said he did not foresee such a move.

"I don't necessarily see it in this budget. But, the minister of housing (James Browne) is negotiating with the minister for public expenditure (Jack Chambers) on a number of fronts.

"We want to take families out of emergency accommodation. Some families, according to city councils, don't accept offers of housing even though they're in emergency accommodation because they want maybe a different type of or different location or whatever, but nonetheless, we're going to prioritise trying to get families and children out of emergency accommodation more quickly."

Rezoning land

Mr Martin also said he and Mr Browne will be meeting local authorities to discuss zoning requirements after concerns he raised in recent weeks. The Government will use legislation to rezone land for housing if local authorities decline to re-open their development plans, the Taoiseach said earlier this month.

Mr Martin confirmed that the Government will take action and supersede decisions made by local councils that either opt to dezone land or not zone new land for housing. This sparked some pushback from councils who argued that their zoning was adequate.

Mr Martin said that he, Mr Browne, and Tánaiste Simon Harris will meet with councils in the coming weeks.

"We will meet with a number of CEOs. I spoke to some who are now saying they will rezone (land). It's about really getting a sense of the enormity of the challenge. We cannot deal with the housing need if we don't rezone more land...In terms of brownfield sites, there has been a viability gap.

"We have over the last number of months taken measures, and James Browne has, in particular, around rent pressure zones and around the standards issue in apartments."

Housing targets

Also speaking in New York, the Tánaiste Simon Harris said the "centre will not hold" if the Government continues to miss housing targets in the coming years.

"This Government will have to show very significant progress in housing.

"I am optimistic that some of the measures we're taking will, over time, significantly assist in supply.

"I think the yearly targets can falter, as we saw last year, but the total number of homes, in the region of 300,000, I think it's the North Star that we have to try to get to."