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LAST UPDATE | 24 Apr 2024
FOUR IN 10 people getting support to buy a house via the First Home Scheme are single people, the Housing Minister has said.
Speaking at the latest update on the Government’s Housing for All plan, Darragh O’Brien said many single people face a “real challenge” when trying to buy their own home as they are relying on just one salary.
“It’s very interesting, in the First Home Scheme we’re seeing about four in 10 of the buyers using that actually being single people,” O’Brien stated.
Since its launch in July 2022, over 4,000 individuals and couples have availed of the First Home Scheme.
There were over 800 approvals under the scheme in the first three months of this year, up around 38% compared to the same period in 2023. Some 262 homes were purchased via the scheme in the first quarter of 2024.
Under the scheme, the Government and participating banks pay up to 30% of the cost of a new home in return for a stake in the home. If the buyer wants, they can buy back the stake but they don’t have to.
O’Brien today said the Government has committed a further €40 million to the scheme.
When asked about the difficulties faced by many people when trying to buy their own home, O’Brien said those who are renting or “are still living with their folks” have options such as the First Home Scheme and the Help to Buy grant.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said these two schemes are the “most obvious direct interventions by Government to help people with affordability”.
He added that the Government is also making efforts to increase supply in order to have “a positive effect on demand and affordability”.
Earlier this month at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis, Harris predicted that Ireland can build 250,000 new homes between 2025 and 2030.
Speaking today, he said he expects this figure to be in revised targets issued by the Government later this year.
He said the 250,000 figure is “roughly where I expect the landing zone to be”.
Harris said there is “absolutely a need to lift the scale of our ambition” and not doing so “would be very underwhelming for people living in box rooms” in their parents’ houses.
When asked how much an affordable home should cost, in his opinion, he said there “isn’t one single figure”.
The Taoiseach said, unlike Mary Lou McDonald, he would not give a specific figure – referring to a previous statement by the Sinn Féin leader that the average house price in Dublin should fall to €300,000.
I’m not going to mislead the Irish people.
Harris told reporters: “There isn’t one single figure in relation to affordability because affordability varies depending on a person’s circumstances, depending on the composition of the family.
“And it also has to factor in a range of other issues in terms of Government intervention.”
Responding to the update delivered today, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin said the Government is “taking people for fools”.
“There is no update on the number of social, affordable rental or affordable purchase homes delivered in the first quarter of this year.
“There is no update on the number of vacant property refurb grants drawn down, or first home loans actually drawn down in the first quarter of the year.
There is also no update on the number of new private homes to purchase coming to the market in the first three months of the year.
“This is important as too much of the modest increase in supply is being snapped up by the expensive built-to-rent sector, further deepening the affordable housing crisis.
“Nor is there any information on what Government intends to do this year to address rising homelessness, rising rents or rising house prices,” Ó Broin said.
Building started on almost 12,000 new homes in the first three months of this year This is the highest Q1 figure since the Government began recording these numbers in 2014 and is up 63% on the same period last year, O’Brien said earlier.
However, the State missed its social housing targets in 2023. The Government built just over 8,000 social housing units last year, missing the goal of around 9,100.
“Go back two years, that was 5,400 – that’s a massive jump up. Yes, it didn’t meet the 9,100, but it was a very significant scaling up,” O’Brien said during the press conference.
There’s about 26,000 social homes in the pipeline, under construction or about to go under construction.
It was also confirmed today that the Cabinet has approved an extension of the waiver of the local authority section 48 development contributions to the end of this year and the refunding of Uisce Éireann water and waste water connection charges until the beginning of October.
O’Brien said the waiver, which was brought in to try to offset the increased cost of building materials, and the water refund scheme had “undoubtedly been a principal factor in influencing the speedier activation of planning permissions by developers since they were introduced last year”.
He said extending these measures “will ensure that many more homes will come into the mix this year and quicker than otherwise may have happened”.
Contains reporting from Press Association
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sad times…
Well it’s just aswell your man in the picture had the app open!
There was a Pokemon on the roof of his bejaysusing car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very sad that people have to chase a cartoon for entertainment. It’s bad enough walking into these zombies on Facebook and texting without this crap. Not far away from a population of hunched over pale and blank faced people now!
Bejaysusing! What a word!
Thankfully, I’m unaware how this game works. Is it GPS reliant? If so, the creators could include software which would mean the game freezes when the user is travelling over 10km per hour.
Have you not got the memo? Corporations have no social responsibility apparently.
Why should they be responsible for stupid people ? I thought humans supposed to be the superior species …not.
It does for its predecessor Ingress, where you can go about 20kmh before the gps lags behind. The developers don’t encourage driving, or using any faster transport than a bicycle for these sort of games. They also say at the start of the app to keep an eye out of your surroundings, which sadly too many eejits aren’t doing and giving the games a bad rap.
People play as car passengers or on trains/buses etc.
Telling people interferes with the natural selection whereby the stupid people kill themselves off and only the clever people continue the species. Unfortunately, with so much health and safety about we are top heavy with dopes !
Is that to improve Gardai chances of catching ‘em all?
Some adult needs to be warned not to play this while driving, says it all really!!!
A friend was passing through town during the week, called in to see me, had two of his sons with him.
I answered the door, the two teenagers shot past me, checked out every room in the house, out to the garden the garage, hopped over the wall, came back 20 minutes later after checking the neighbourhood.
For Pokemon monsters.
I wanted to give the two of them a good slap…and I know by the look on my mate’s face that he would have been happy if I had…but I didn’t.
It’s becoming a stupid obsession.
Someone has your house completely mapped out so….talk about a data collecting tool and when you download the app you are giving them complete access to everything on your phone, including your emails.
It’s almost like they were in an alternate reality while there.
You know…as if teenagers aren’t annoying enough already.
I remember you been equally freaked and posting online here in the 70′s about the Hula Hoop – and look at it now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WJNFYumRQ0
LOL, this part of the comment – “the crowds were in awe as his hoop swung , flipped and flopped. Johnny , your the man !!! ” under that video is gold
Chewy I wish I could give you a thousand thumbs up
Steady on.
I was driving through the Phoenix park and caught a Michael D Higgins and I wasn’t even using my phone !!!! Cool or what.
These days I’m more surprised when I see someone not using their phone while driving.
Miriam
Total rubbish. Reading click bait is bad enough but posting it very sad.
god help us all when Mario Car Go is released, it will be chaos on the roads
Cant wait for gta go
The missus issued me a similar warning about extramarital sex, apparently ‘gotta catch em all’ is not a good reply when asked about my STD status.
Solid Advice
People have been warned not to vote FG but they still do it.
Wish they would lead by example
Ahh Pokemon go… Aiding natural selection since July 2016 …
If a law was passed to make phone manufacturers, service providers, app developers etc… concurrently liable for accidents caused by people on their phone while driving – I guarantee there would be a workable solution to stop people using them within a month.
If an idiot walks into traffic, off a cliff, into a tree it’s because they are an idiot not because the game made them do it. They make their own decisions. I’ve no time for this game it’s basically train spotting for the modern generation but the game didn’t make people stupid and plenty of screen shots show a warning telling players to pay attention.
This is the biggest load of shiteeeeee I’ve ever seen. Society become even more idiotic, and more dumbed down. Sad state of affairs. Pfffffffff
Yeah remeber when we all used to go into a big building and talk to an imaginary being so that it wouldnt send us to an imaginary place when we died
At least all the virgins are getting some sun on their greasy spotty necks. Might dry them out a bit.
Seriously, are people that stupid that they need to be “reminded” no to play a game on their phones while driving?
No shiz sherlock!
My tax paying money won’t be used on those shower of wasters chasing virtual characters shame they don’t care about the real Irish wildlife
So we should go into the contryside and throw balls at foxs and badgers ?
Obviously not it went straight over your head dermot
But isn’t that speed that kills?
I think not looking where you are going does too..
@Free – I really need to start using #sarcasm so that people will cop on.
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