FF's 'Rent Back Boost’ to allow buyers factor in rent payments to avail of Help-to-Buy grant

PEOPLE WHO have not paid enough tax in order to be able to avail of the full Help-to-Buy grant will be able to factor in the rent they have paid, under Fianna Fáil’s housing plans. 

The party’s manifesto pledges to protect and extend the Help to Buy scheme out to 2030 and include what it has dubbed a ‘Rent Back Boost’ in assessing the payment level. 

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Currently, the maximum amount is €30,000 under the grant scheme. Fine Gael has pledged to increase that to €40,000 if returned to government while Micheál Martin told The Journal last week that he would be open to increasing it if needed. 

The ‘Rent Back Boost’ is understood to be a way of ensuring those who might not have paid €30,000 in tax in the previous four years can still avail of the full Help-to-Buy.

The measure is particularly targeted at single purchasers, it us understood as those applying jointly are likely to have €30,000. 

It is also aimed at those returning from abroad who might not have paid taxes in Ireland for full four years and find themselves locked out of the government supports. 

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The scheme will work by assessing the rent payments alongside tax that a person has paid over four years.

In addition, the party wants a buyers tax credit to be established which would be tax relief for first-time buyers on costs associated with home purchases such as legal costs, surveying and valuation fees, to a maximum of €2,500. 

A number of analysts have warned that prices have already been pushed up up with the Help to Buy grants, something the Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien and other government party leaders have denied is the case. 

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