FIANNA FÁIL WILL “at a minimum” double the Rent Tax Credit, expand the First Home Scheme, and look at increasing the Help-to-Buy grant to get money into the hands of people who are renting or buying homes. 

In a wide-ranging interview with The Journal, Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin outlined some of his party’s housing priorities as the general election approaches.

Under Fianna Fáil’s plan, the Rent Tax Credit would be boosted to at least €2,000 per person, after already increasing in October’s Budget to €1,000.  

Speaking to The Journal about Fianna Fáil’s housing manifesto pledges, which will be published next week, Martin said that people need to have some financial pressure alleviated and the tax credit would help. He said: 

At a minimum, we would like to double it in the next government.

When asked about the Help-to-Buy grant, which offers a tax rebate of up to €30,000 to people looking to buy new builds, Martin said “it may have to be increased”. 

“We can look at that, but I think it’s quite generous as it is,” he said, adding the next government can look at the scheme on an ongoing basis. 

Help-to-Buy

He criticised Sinn Féin’s plans to scrap the grant, stating that people want to know that it will be available to them over the next number of years so they can plan accordingly.

Sinn Féin’s plan to get rid of it will “crucify first-time buyers, in my view, and so would getting rid of First Home Scheme”. 

The Fianna Fáil leader said that the manifesto will also have details on the expansion of the First Home Scheme to second-hand homes.

The First Home Scheme is a shared equity scheme for first-time buyers that involves the government and participating banks paying up to 30% of the cost of the home in exchange for a stake in it, which can later be bought back by the home buyer.

Currently, the scheme is only available to first-time buyers who are purchasing a newly-built property or building their own.

“We do believe the First Home Scheme should be extended to second hand homes, particularly in areas of the city here in Dublin or in other cities – the traditional areas where families lived – to enable people to have some chance of buying homes in areas where no new houses are being built,” he said.  

When asked if such a move could result in an increase in house prices, Martin said the Central Bank’s figures indicate that the impact of both Help-to-Buy and the First Home  Scheme have not been significant in terms of house price inflation.

Last month, a financial stability note from the Central Bank found that average users of the Help-to-Buy scheme tended to be higher-income borrowers who purchased larger, more expensive home, but didn’t look into the effect the scheme has had on house prices. 

In terms of Rent Pressure Zones, which cap rent increases at 2% per year, Martin said they need to be looked at in future to ensure they’re still working, but they do have a role to play. 

“They will be reviewed, but I think they have succeeded in keeping the prices of existing rents capped at that level. Not new ones, but certainly existing ones,” he said.  

Martin said supply is the key issue, stating that more houses need to be built fast. 

“I think we have brought about huge change in housing, but not enough in terms of what we have to do,” he said, acknowledging that building 60,000 houses by the end of the next term of government is necessary. 

“That is the challenge,” he said.

Fianna Fáil wants to keep housing ministry 

The Tánaiste said Fianna Fáil wants to retain the Housing ministry if the party is in the next government, saying that his party has historically been the one that rolls out house building projects. 

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Referring to former housing minister Eoghan Murphy’s new book, which describes how he experienced pushback to his ideas from former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe, Martin said “there is resistance internally to a lot of this”.

“In our view, the market, on its own, will not solve this, and that is why there has been extraordinary state intervention,” he added.

When asked if Murphy’s testimony of his time as minister and the obstacles put in his way was a common occurence, Martin said Fianna Fáil too experienced pushback from “officialdom” when they entered government in 2020. 

“We said to the secretary-generals [in the civil service], ‘this is the most important issue facing government and we need to really change the paradigm around housing’. It’s existential. It goes to the essence of cohesion in our society. Irish people want the aspiration to own their own homes,” he said. 

Martin added that officials told him they didn’t believe certain measures should happen.

“There was a tendency to say the market should be allowed to determine everything. The market was failing for the last four to five years prior to going into government. And our view is, we have to get involved. And it does mean very significant government expenditure, and it has meant very significant government expenditure, but the results are now beginning to show,” he said. 

What sets FF and FG apart

When asked what separates Fianna Fáil from Fine Gael when it comes to housing, Martin said: 

I think the level of state intervention sets us apart.

He criticised the Fine Gael-led housing policy between 2016 and 2021, when Fianna Fáil was in a confidence-and-supply agreement with FG, saying that in that period before 2020, there was a tendency to say that Ireland shouldn’t be as focused on home ownership. 

“That was a trend in Europe, [where] they’re all renting. And I think that filtered its way into housing policy, and I think it had a very detrimental impact on housing.

Martin said Fianna Fáil pushed for strong state intervention, both on social housing and on the affordable side.