Affordable housing schemes in Ireland: the six routes and who qualifies for each

The six schemes at a glance

Cost rental: the renting scheme

Cost rental is long-term rented housing from an approved housing body (Tuath, Clúid, Respond, Circle, Oaklee), the Land Development Agency or a local authority. The rent is set from the cost of building, managing and maintaining the home, and the Housing Agency says it is at least 25% below market rents in the area. Tenancies are registered with the RTB and become tenancies of unlimited duration after six consecutive months.

To qualify, net household income must be €66,000 or below for a home in Dublin and €59,000 or below elsewhere. Net means after income tax, USC, PRSI and pension deductions, added up for everyone aged 18 or over. You must not be getting any social housing support (HAP or Rent Supplement included), must not own a property, the household size must match the home, and everyone must be living in Ireland when you apply. The provider also runs an affordability test: the rent should be around 35% of net income or less, and if it is higher you may be asked to show two years of paying that much rent without default. The deposit is one month’s rent less €50. There is no waiting list: each development is advertised separately, one application per household, and the homes are let by a third-party-monitored lottery. Drawn applicants are contacted within 10 days.

Where it stands now: 206 cost rental schemes have been advertised on the portal, 1 open at the last update. Check your net income, then read how the application runs.

Starter Home Purchase Scheme: buying from the council

This is the scheme people mean by “affordable purchase” or the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. The council sells newly built homes below open market value. The price you pay is worked out from your income and mortgage capacity, and the council holds the difference between that price and the market value as an equity share. You can buy the share out in part or in full whenever you choose; certain events, such as selling the home, trigger a request to redeem it.

Eligibility, from the Housing Agency FAQ: over 18; a first-time buyer or someone who qualifies under the Fresh Start principle (separated or divorced with no interest in the former home, or divested of a home through insolvency or bankruptcy, or a previous home that no longer fits the household); a right to reside in the State; the home will be your principal residence; you need at least a 5% equity share from the council; and you have a deposit of 10% of the purchase price. The income test has two steps. First, gross household income times four must not be more than 85.5% of the market value (if your actual mortgage capacity is lower, the council uses that). Second, your savings beyond the deposit and a further €30,000 are added to that figure to give your “deemed purchasing power”, which must not exceed 95% of market value. There is no minimum income, but you must be able to reach the home’s minimum price with mortgage, savings and Help to Buy.

Applications are recorded by date and time and prioritised on that basis. Households of two or more get priority for three-bed homes and three or more for four-beds; one and two-beds carry no household-size priority. A council may reserve 30% of a development for people living in its area. Successful buyers pay their own legal costs and stamp duty. Mortgage approval in principle is not required to apply but the application cannot be fully processed without it.

Where it stands now: 156 starter home developments have been advertised, 11 open at the last update. The purchasing power calculator runs the 4x, 85.5% and 95% tests for any advertised home, and the equity share guide shows worked examples.

First Home Scheme: shared equity on a private new build

The First Home Scheme (FHS) is a shared equity scheme funded by the Government and participating lenders. It bridges the gap between your deposit plus mortgage and the price of a newly built house or apartment in a private development, a self-build on your own site, or (under its Tenant Home Purchase product) the home you already rent. The FHS takes a percentage stake in the property in return, up to 30% of the price, or 20% if you also use Help to Buy. Property price ceilings apply per local authority area and differ between houses and apartments in some areas.

To apply you must be over 18, a first-time buyer or other eligible homebuyer (the same Fresh Start categories), hold mortgage approval with a participating lender, borrow the maximum available to you (up to four times income) without a macro-prudential exception, and have a minimum 10% deposit. There are no household income limits. The FHS is not regulated by the Central Bank. It is a support for private developments; a starter home bought from a council already carries the council’s equity share, so ask the council before assuming the two combine. The First Home Scheme guide has the price ceiling for every local authority area, the service charge from year six and the redemption rules.

Help to Buy: the tax refund towards a deposit

What Budget 2027 changed (6 October 2026): the maximum Help to Buy relief rises from €30,000 to €35,000 from 7 October 2026, subject to the Finance Bill. The other limits stay as they were: the refund is still capped at 10% of the price and at the income tax and DIRT you paid in the previous four years. Source: Budget 2027 taxation measures, Department of Finance. The First Home Scheme was not changed.

Help to Buy (HTB) is a Revenue incentive for first-time buyers of a new house or apartment, or self-builders, who will live in the property. It refunds the Irish income tax and DIRT you paid over the four tax years before the application, less anything already refunded. Under the enhanced relief the maximum is €35,000 per property (€30,000 before Budget 2027), however many buyers sign the contract. It counts towards the minimum price on a starter home and reduces the FHS stake you can take. The Help to Buy guide walks through who qualifies, the lesser-of-three rule and the myAccount application.

Local Authority Home Loan: the council as your lender

The Local Authority Home Loan is a government-backed mortgage from your council for first-time buyers and Fresh Start applicants who cannot get enough finance from a bank. You must be aged 18 to 70, in continuous employment for two years as primary earner (one year as a secondary earner on a joint application), have gross income of no more than €80,000 as a single applicant or €85,000 jointly, show proof of insufficient mortgage offers from two regulated lenders, and buy or build within the maximum market value for the county. Self-employed applicants need two years of certified accounts. The Housing Agency notes it can be used to fund a Starter Home Purchase where a bank will not. Since 1 April 2026 the price caps run from €310,000 to €415,000 by county: the full Local Authority Home Loan guide has them, with the rate and repayments.

Cost Rental Tenant in Situ: when the landlord is selling

If you rent privately, have a valid notice of termination because the landlord intends to sell, are at risk of homelessness and sit under the cost rental income limits but above social housing eligibility, the Housing Agency can buy the home from your landlord and keep you in it as a tenant. Applications start with a housing officer at your council. The full rules, the process and the numbers to date are in the tenant in situ guide.

Which one is yours

• Renting, household net income under €66,000 (Dublin) or €59,000, not on HAP: cost rental. Nothing else is needed, and previous home ownership is not a bar as long as you own nothing now.
• Buying, first-time buyer, mortgage approval in hand but four times income does not reach a new home’s price: Starter Home Purchase if a council scheme is advertised where you want to live, First Home Scheme for any private new build under the local ceiling. Both can sit alongside Help to Buy, with the FHS stake reduced to 20%.
• Buying in Dublin: the four councils each run their own portal and priority rules, see affordable homes in Dublin by council.
• Buying, but two banks have turned you down or offered too little: Local Authority Home Loan, which can also fund a starter home.
• Looking for rent to buy: there is no State scheme by that name. What exists instead, from private rent-to-own to buying the home you rent when the landlord sells.
• Renting and the landlord has served notice to sell: Cost Rental Tenant in Situ, starting with your council this week, because sales take longer than notice periods.

Where the homes are advertised

Cost rental and Starter Home Purchase homes appear on the Housing Agency’s Starter Home Supports portal and on the provider’s own site, each with an opening date and time. Windows are short: new schemes are usually open one to two weeks, single re-lets about a week, and some providers close early once they have enough applications. This site lists every scheme by cost rental, purchase, county and provider: 362 so far, 12 open at the last update. If you have found your door on this page, the last step is timing. The alert (€15 once for 12 months) emails you the minute a scheme opens in your counties, with reminders the evening before and an hour before, so the documents are ready and you are on the provider’s page when it counts.

Sources

• Housing Agency: What is the Cost Rental Scheme
• Housing Agency: Cost Rental FAQ (income limits, affordability, deposit, lottery)
• Housing Agency: What is the Starter Home Purchase Scheme
• Housing Agency: Starter Home Purchase FAQ (4x income, 85.5% and 95% tests, equity share, priority)
• Housing Agency: Additional supports (First Home Scheme, Local Authority Home Loan, Help to Buy)
• First Home Scheme: eligibility and how the equity share works
• Local Authority Home Loan: am I eligible
• Revenue: Help to Buy (HTB) incentive
• Department of Finance: Budget 2027 taxation measures (Help to Buy maximum €35,000 from 7 October 2026)