The idea in one paragraph
The council sells you a new home for less than it is worth and keeps the difference as an equity share, somewhere between 5% and 40%. You own the home, live in it, and can sell whenever you like. The share does not earn interest. It sits there as a percentage until you buy it out, sell, or reach year 40, when it falls due. Because it is a percentage of the value at that time, not a fixed euro amount, it grows if prices grow and shrinks if they fall.
How your price is worked out
The regulations use a number called purchasing power. It is built in three steps.
- Mortgage capacity: your gross household income times four. Basic pay counts in full; overtime and bonus count up to 10% of basic each, commission up to 30%. If a lender has already approved you in principle for less than four times, the lower figure is used.
- The 85.5% test: your mortgage capacity must be below 85.5% of the home’s open market value. If it is not, you could in theory buy at market and you are not eligible for that home. You can also qualify with a letter from a bank saying it will not lend you 85.5%, which matters for older applicants.
- Savings: you need a 10% deposit. On top of that you may hold €30,000 without it counting. Savings above deposit plus €30,000 are added to your purchasing power. If the total passes 95% of market value, you are out, because the council must hold at least 5%.
Your price is then mortgage capacity plus deposit plus any excess savings, clamped to the advertised minimum and maximum. The gap between your price and the market value, expressed as a percentage, is the council’s equity share.
Example 1: a single buyer at Oscar Traynor Woods
Dublin City Council’s scheme in Coolock opens on 23 September 2026 with 95 homes. The 1-bed apartment has a market value of €335,000, a minimum price of €251,000 and a maximum of €318,250.
A single PAYE worker on €55,000 with €40,000 saved: mortgage capacity €220,000, comfortably under the 85.5% ceiling of €286,425. Deposit €33,500. Savings after deposit are €6,500, inside the €30,000 buffer, so nothing is added. Price: €253,500. Council share: 24.3%, worth €81,500 today. The mortgage is €220,000 on a €335,000 apartment, which is the whole point.
Example 2: a couple choosing between a 2-bed and a 3-bed
Same scheme. A couple earning €80,000 between them with €50,000 saved has mortgage capacity €320,000.
For the 2-bed with ensuite (market value €385,000, maximum €365,750): the 85.5% ceiling is €329,175, they pass. Price €358,500, council share 6.9%. Barely a discount at all: their income is high enough that they nearly reach the maximum price.
For the 3-bed (market value €430,000, minimum €340,000): ceiling €367,650, they pass. Price €363,000, council share 15.6%.
Read those two together. The bigger home costs them €4,500 more upfront and the mortgage is the same €320,000 either way. The council’s share absorbs the difference. That is deliberate: the scheme is designed so that the home you can afford is the one that fits your household, and the priority rules push households of three or more towards the 3-beds anyway.
Example 3: the income ceiling at Hampton Demesne
Fingal’s scheme in Balbriggan has a 3-bed mid-terrace at €470,000 market value (minimum €370,000). A couple on €95,000 with €60,000 saved: capacity €380,000 against a ceiling of €401,850. They pass, pay €427,000 and the council holds 9.1%.
Give the same couple a raise to €105,000 combined and capacity becomes €420,000. That is above €401,850, so they are not eligible for this home at all. The ceiling is not the €66,000 you hear about for cost rental. It is different for every home: 85.5% of the market value divided by four.
Income ceilings for homes open now
Using that formula, here is the highest gross household income that can apply for a selection of homes advertised this month, and the biggest discount on offer (the minimum price against market value).
| Home | Market value | Income ceiling | Largest council share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oscar Traynor Woods, Dublin 17: 1-bed apartment | €335,000 | €71,606 | 25.1% |
| Barracksfield West, Kildare: 1-bed apartment | €320,000 | €68,400 | 23.9% |
| Railway Close, Carlow: 3-bed semi | €332,500 | €71,071 | 7.5% |
| Castle Place, Limerick: 3-bed mid-terrace | €400,000 | €85,500 | 20.2% |
| Foothills, South Dublin: 3-bed mid-terrace | €425,000 | €90,843 | 29.4% |
| Oscar Traynor Woods, Dublin 17: 3-bed apartment | €430,000 | €91,912 | 20.9% |
| Hampton Demesne, Fingal: 3-bed mid-terrace | €470,000 | €100,462 | 21.3% |
| Hampton Demesne, Fingal: 3-bed end-terrace (larger) | €500,000 | €106,875 | 20.0% |
Railway Close in Carlow is the outlier: a 7.5% maximum share, so the minimum price is only €25,000 below market. Foothills in South Dublin offers up to 29.4%. The discount available is set by how much subsidy the council put into the scheme, and it varies a lot.
Buying the share back
You can repay the share in chunks of at least €10,000, or in one payment. Councils differ on when voluntary repayments can start; Kilkenny’s booklet, for example, says from five years after purchase. It must be repaid when you sell, when the last owner dies, or at year 40. The amount is the percentage applied to the market value at that moment, so a 20% share on a home that has gone from €380,000 to €400,000 is €80,000, not €76,000. Many buyers plan to redeem it when they remortgage after a few years of pay rises, before prices have moved far.
Nothing forces you to redeem early. With no interest running, the share is the cheapest money you will ever hold. The trade-off is that the council takes its percentage of any gain.
What to have ready
Applications are ranked by the time an eligible application arrives, so the opening minute matters more than for cost rental. Have mortgage approval in principle (or a Local Authority Home Loan application in progress), three months of bank statements, your Employment Detail Summary from Revenue, proof of first-time-buyer or Fresh Start status, and proof of residency scanned before the scheme opens. The document checklist lists where each one comes from.
Rules: Affordable Housing Act 2021, Affordable Housing Regulations 2023, Housing Agency purchasing-power guidance and citizensinformation.ie (updated April 2026). Scheme figures as advertised by Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin, Kildare, Carlow and Limerick councils, checked 2026-09-07. Examples are illustrations; the council’s own assessment decides.