THE GREEN PARTY manifesto contains a pledge to overhaul the Help-to-Buy scheme so that it’s available to renters who are looking to buy their home from their landlord.

With an election due to be called this week, political parties are putting the finishing touches to their manifestos.

A number of parties have outlined their plans to overhaul the childcare system in Ireland, while the Tánaiste has said Fianna Fáil plans to expand the First Home Scheme if returned to government. 

TheJournal understands that the Green Party is also looking at housing policy reforms, targeting the existing Help-to-Buy scheme, which offers a tax rebate of up to €30,000 to people looking to buy new builds.

Currently, it is limited to new builds in order to incentivise the construction industry to build new homes.

“What we’re proposing is that this would be extended to people who are looking to buy their existing home if their landlord is selling up,” a Green Party source said.

“This could offer someone whose tenancy is ending a realistic opportunity to buy their home off their landlord. We recently extended the First Home scheme to this cohort, bringing down the up-front cost of the purchase by up to 30%. But for many hard-pressed renters, the need to secure a deposit can be a major barrier to buying their home.

The purpose of the Help-to-Buy scheme is to help homebuyers to get their deposit together, so it makes sense to use it, alongside the first home scheme, to prevent evictions and increase home ownership,” they added. 

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“Considering how high rents are relative to mortgages, many people would end up with mortgage repayments that are lower than their rents,” said this source.

The party is also looking at overhauling the Help-to-Buy scheme so that it would be open to people who have returned to Ireland in the last five years but may not have paid enough tax to qualify for meaningful financial assistance.

The party does not propose limiting the Help-to-Buy scheme to all purchasers of second-hand properties as this could have an inflationary effect.