First Home Scheme boosts Louth buyers as drawdowns surge 93% in a year

The First Home Scheme, part of the Government’s new Housing Plan, ‘Delivering Homes, Building Communities’, has recorded a 93% increase in drawdowns in Louth in the last year. 

This means the Scheme has supported 340 home purchases in the county to date, compared with 176 at the end of February 2025. Earlier this week, the Scheme announced it has supported 5,000 home purchases nationwide.  

Approvals for the First Home Scheme have also risen by 89% in Louth, with 599 recorded to date, compared with 317 by the end of February 2025. 

The Scheme was set up to provide funding to first-time buyers who, despite having a deposit and mortgage approval in place, still could not cover the cost of a new-build home. In exchange for providing funding, the Scheme takes an equity stake of up to 30% in the home (see editors’ notes below for detailed explanation of how the Scheme works). 

Of the 5,000 home purchases supported since the Scheme’s inception in July 2022, almost four in ten (36%) have come in the last year. The Scheme has provided over €330 million in support to people who have bought or self-built their homes.

A joint application is counted as one buyer, not two – which means that approximately 8,000 people (2,000 single buyers and 3,000 joint buyers) have benefited from the Scheme to date.

Over 9,000 applicants across all 26 counties have been approved by the Scheme since 2022 and have received eligibility certificates allowing them to buy or self-build their chosen home.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD, said:

“The First Home Scheme is one of our key tools in supporting people to own their own home and it is encouraging to see this significant milestone reached.

”This demonstrates a continued upward demand for the Scheme. The fact that more than a third of the 5,000 homes purchased, with the support of the Scheme, took place in the last year demonstrates its growing popularity and effectiveness.

“Supporting more people on their path to owning a home is a priority for me and this Government is focused on delivering more by ramping up support through our Schemes, which are supported by unprecedented levels of funding.  This Government is absolutely committed to delivering on the actions set out in the new Housing Action Plan, ‘Delivering Homes, Building Communities’, to ensure that every person and every family has a safe and secure home with the First Home Scheme playing a significant role in this.”

The First Home Scheme Chief Executive, Michael Broderick, said:

“The Scheme’s 5,000th drawdown is a hugely significant milestone which emphasises the importance of financial support for first-time buyers at a time of acute demand for homes around the country. It is encouraging that the Scheme is growing year-on-year, with almost four in ten purchases having taken place in the last 12 months.

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“The success of the First Home Scheme is dependent on a lot of hard work and support from multiple stakeholders, including our colleagues in the Department of Housing and participating lenders AIB [including Haven and EBS], Bank of Ireland and PTSB, without whom none of this could have been possible.

“I am proud of the fact that, by bridging funding gaps for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants, we are making a major difference to many people’s lives by giving them an opportunity to become homeowners. We are acutely aware of the importance of home ownership in Ireland, and I am looking forward to seeing the Scheme go from strength to strength in the months and years to come.”