Local election candidate John Watson says that the first time buyers grant must be reintroduced for new homebuyers.
Fianna Fail’s John Watson
The grant was available in the past and was a great help to young people buying or building their first home.
Watson says that over the past six weeks he has come across many people who are renting houses but wish to buy their own homes. In most cases the rent they are paying would be the equivalent of a mortgage repayment.
“The problem they face in not the ability to repay the mortgage, it is the ability to raise the deposit the banks now require. I believe the introduction of a €10,000 grant to these people would help them buy a home of their own.
“This measure would bring a number of first time buyers onto the market and this could clear up the sizeable amount of housing stock lying empty at the moment.
“I also feel that this initiative would be a welcome boost to our struggling construction industry. The demand for quality affordable starter homes would be a great incentive for construction companies to start building again.”
The Fianna Fail candidate said he believes this measure would be almost cost neutral considering the amount of taxes the government take from a new home through stamp duty, vat on the build cost, development charges, not to mention the paye, prsi and taxes paid by the construction companies.
“I have talked to many couples were both partners are working, they have no problem paying rents equivalent to a mortgage but they find it impossible to save the 10%-20% deposit most banks now require.
“Every person deserves the chance to own their home and I believe this measure would go a long way to helping them achieve this goal.”
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