Lisney provides a range of measures to boost supply and lower the cost of new homes in pre-budget submissions.
26th September 2023
![Lisney provides a range of measures to boost supply and lower the cost of new homes in pre-budget submissions.](https://d3f6zr1897ea76.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GTR-OMP-ZZ-C01-XX-VS-0005-scaled.jpg)
Budget 2024 will be unveiled on October 10th when Minister for Finance Michael McGrath will stand up in the Dáil to present an overall package worth at least €6.4 billion.
Our expert Frank McSharry provides a range of measures to boost supply and lower the cost of new homes in pre-budget submissions.
Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty Recommendations:
- Extend the Help-to-Buy (HTB) grant for first-time buyers for at least five years and increase the amount given in line with current new-home prices. Lisney notes the current HTB threshold of €500,000 has not increased since 2017, while house prices and construction costs have risen substantially in the same period.
- Increase the value of properties eligible for the First-Home Scheme (FHS) to allow more purchasers to avail of it.
- Reintroduce mortgage interest relief to help borrowers defray the increased costs associated with rising interest rates.
- Increase amounts available to builders for subsidies under the Croí Cónaithe scheme to increase the viability of apartment-building in cities.
- Encourage landlords to re-enter the market through the use of capital allowances. There is a severe shortage of rental properties available at present. This shortage is even more acute in small towns, where institutional investors in the private-rented-sector (PRS) market are not active.
- Reduce VAT on new homes to 0 per cent for a two-year period, and gradually reintroduce it over time at lower rates than the current rate of 13.5 per cent.
- Increase resources for An Bord Pleanála and the High Court with a view to fast-tracking planning decisions and judicial reviews for new-home schemes.
- Expand and simplify the Living-Cities initiative and other grants to further encourage urban regeneration and to make it more attractive to convert older office buildings and spaces over retail premises into residential accommodation.