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:

1. 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.
2. Increase the value of properties eligible for the First-Home Scheme (FHS) to allow more purchasers to avail of it.
3. Reintroduce mortgage interest relief to help borrowers defray the increased costs associated with rising interest rates.
4. Increase amounts available to builders for subsidies under the Croí Cónaithe scheme to increase the viability of apartment-building in cities.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.