Thresholds for First Time Home Scheme must be urgently increased in Louth says O'Dowd

Louth TD, Fergus O’Dowd, has said that the current €300k price ceiling for the First Time Home Scheme in County Louth must be urgently increased to match the cost of new builds in the area.

The Fine Gael TD said that “on paper this scheme is very helpful in assisting first time buyers into the housing market who would otherwise be locked out, however the current ceiling threshold of €300k in Louth is significantly restricting the number of new homes that fall within the scope of the scheme.

He continued, “this has to change, we need an urgent increase in the threshold for County Louth and I have written once again to the Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, calling on him to ensure that this threshold be increased.

“My recommendation to the Minister earlier this year was to use the settlement areas as defined in the CSO in determining the appropriate ceiling prices for areas as opposed to county boundaries. This recommendation would also ensure areas that straddle two counties such as Drogheda would not be adversely affected by two separate price ceilings.

O’Dowd added “The Minister recently confirmed to me that a review of price ceilings would be undertaken by the First Home Scheme Dedicated Activity Company and it is expected that the recommendations will be presented to the Minister before year end.

“Any final decision by the Minister must reflect local prices and must not render prospective first-time buyers ineligible for the scheme.”