Buying your first home in 2026: deposit, Help to Buy and the mortgage rules

First-time buyers can borrow up to four times income with a 10% deposit. Help to Buy now refunds up to €35,000 of tax on a new home. How it adds up.

Three things set what a first-time buyer can afford. They are the Central Bank's limits on how much lenders can lend, the deposit you can raise, and the State schemes that help with both.

The mortgage limits

• Loan-to-income: you can borrow up to 4 times your income before tax, or a couple's combined income.
• Loan-to-value: you need a deposit of at least 10% of the price.
• Lenders can go above these limits for up to 15% of first-time buyer loans, so an exception is possible but not guaranteed.

Help to Buy

Buying or self-building a new home to live in? Help to Buy refunds income tax and DIRT (the tax on savings interest) you paid in the four years before you apply. For contracts signed from 7 October 2026 to the end of 2029, the refund is the lowest of:

• €35,000, up from €30,000 before Budget 2027
• 10% of the price
• the income tax and DIRT you paid over those four years (USC and PRSI don't count)

The price must be €500,000 or less, and your mortgage at least 70% of it. The refund goes to the builder, or to your lender for a self-build, and counts towards your deposit. Second-hand homes don't qualify.

The First Home Scheme

Your mortgage and deposit may not cover the price of a new home. If so, the State-backed First Home Scheme can fund up to 30% of the price, or 20% if you also use Help to Buy. In return it takes a share in the home. You still need a 10% deposit, the price must be under the limit for your area, and the share is bought back or repaid later.

An example

A couple earning €95,000 between them sign for a new house at €420,000 in November 2026. They have paid enough income tax to get the full Help to Buy refund:

Stamp duty on a new home is charged on the price excluding VAT. Legal fees, surveys and mortgage protection insurance come on top.

Before you sign

• Apply for Help to Buy early, under 'Property and Land Services' in myAccount: the application shows the most you could claim. You must live in the home for five years, and buy from a Revenue-approved developer.
• Lenders test whether you could afford repayments if rates rose by 2 percentage points, unless the rate is fixed for five years or more.
• If you rent now, keep claiming the Rent Tax Credit until you move.

Work it out

• Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme →
• Mortgage repayments and amortisation →
• Stamp duty and property tax on a purchase →
• Mortgage stress test →

Sources

• Revenue: Help to Buy: how much can you claim? (€35,000 from 7 October 2026) (checked 25/10/2026)
• Revenue: Help to Buy: what is a qualifying property? (€500,000 limit, 70% loan-to-value) (checked 25/10/2026)
• Citizens Information: First Home Scheme (price limits, 30% / 20% equity, service charges) (checked 25/10/2026)
• Central Bank of Ireland: Mortgage measures (loan-to-income 4x / 3.5x, deposits 10% / 30%) (checked 24/10/2026)
• Revenue: Stamp Duty and property: rates (1% / 2% / 6% residential, 7.5% non-residential, 15% s.31E) (checked 25/10/2026)
• Citizens Information: Budget 2027 (checked 25/10/2026)

General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.