Ciaran O’Flaherty (QFA)

If there’s anything we’re all prone to doing, it’s putting things on the long finger. Procrastination comes in many shapes and forms for us all – whether it’s as simple as putting away the washing when it’s done to finally taking the car to get serviced. Simply put, life gets busy and other things take precedence.

However if you’re planning on relying on the Help to Buy scheme to purchase your first home in 2026 – it’s the one thing you shouldn’t put on the long finger.

Help-to-Buy in a nutshell

The Help to Buy (HTB) scheme gives first-time buyers a tax refund to boost the deposit for a new-build or self-build home. It refunds Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) you’ve paid in Ireland over the previous four tax years. [1]

You can get back the lowest of the following:

€30,000
10% of the property price (or approved valuation for a self-build)
The total Income Tax and DIRT you actually paid in the last four years.

Eligibility:

Refund of your specific income tax and DIRT paid over last 4 tax years – 2022,2023, 2024 and now 2025 (considered in 2026). The €30k max tax refund is not a guarantee – based on your specific (single/joint) tax assessment.

To qualify in 2026, you must:

Be a first-time buyer (all applicants), purchasing a new-build or building your own home.
Buy/build a property costing €500,000 or less.
Live in it as your primary residence for at least five years.
Take out a mortgage of at least 70% of the property value.
Be fully tax-compliant for the previous four tax years.

“In 2024, 8,541 HTB claims were approved. The total value of approved HTB approved claims in 2024 is in the order of €225.5 million.” [2]

The scheme has been extended in recent budgets, giving first-time buyers more certainty that HTB will still be available when they’re ready to buy.

How to apply

You apply through Revenue’s myAccount or ROS, and once approved, the refund is sent to your builder or to an agreed account for self-builds.

Expert opinion – Why you shouldn’t delay

High application volumes are common early in the year, which can slow down processing and, in turn, delay your Help to Buy approval. This can inhibit your ability to sign contracts within typical 21–28-day deadlines as you may not be able to obtain AIP or loan offer without your Help to Buy approval.

For Approval in principle if you are relying on the Help to buy: Your lender or broker will look for your proof of Help to buy approval up front– including your access code and approval letter from Revenue. Don’t delay if you are looking to register for a development due to launch early in 2026 – there may also be cancellation units from previous phases that become available – to proceed here you should look to have everything lined up to move as quickly as possible.

So if you need to rely on your 2025 tax return for a higher approval figure, apply as soon as your 2025 Employment Detail Summary (EDS) is available! When your tax is up to date, get your HTB application in. It puts you in the best position to go sale agreed and sign contracts on time, without last‑minute stress! If you don’t need to rely on your 2025 return apply now rather than waiting for the usual January rush!

Need help with your HTB application?

If you have any questions on the content of this article or if you’re ready to get the wheels in motion, I’m here and ready to talk. Book a chat with me today and start getting mortgage ready on your terms.