First-time home buyers in Donegal have been given a boost following the news that they are set to receive a tax rebate.
The Government are proposing plans to introduce a tax rebate grant scheme in an effort to get people on the property ladder.
The initiative is being specifically designed to help those currently priced out out of the property market in cities like Dublin and Cork.
However, the proposal will be a nationwide scheme and will benefit first-time homeowners all over the country.
Housing Minister Simon Coveney said that he wants to devise a scheme that, in particular, helps those who are being locked out of the property market.
Mr Coveney told The Irish Independent, “Any measures we take in the Budget I think need to be clear, easily understood and easy to implement.
“We need to send out a message that first-time buyers, at the moment, simply don’t have sufficient numbers of houses being built for them in the right places and at the right price.
“But the extent of that and the means by which it is done is still being finalized at the moment.”
Mr Coveney said he has considered introducing a scheme similar to one operating in the UK, whereby the State would provide a grant in return for a small equity in the property.
However, he said he is instead leaning towards a grant scheme whereby applicants receive a tax rebate.
“I think it’ll be something along the lines of a first-time buyers’ grant, effectively through the tax system, and through a tax rebate system,” Mr Coveney said.
“Mr Coveney said the scheme that will be announced next month will apply to new homes only and emphasised the need to increase supply.
“My view is that the core problem in the housing market at the moment is a total lack of supply,” the minister said.
“The core issue here is that anything we do has to drive supply,” he added.
