Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 October 2025
30. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his Department’s plans to lower housing costs in Fingal; the way in which his Department plans to ensure that the first home scheme keeps up with the housing price increases that Fingal has seen year on year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53742/25]
View answerContinuing to increase supply is key to meeting need and addressing many of the challenges currently facing the housing market. Increasing supply will help moderate house price growth and ease affordability challenges.
Supply has increased significantly in recent years, with 92,400 new homes delivered between 2022 and 2024 inclusive, exceeding the combined target for the period by 5,400 or so.
Government continues to bring forward measures to help build upon the uplift in supply and help dampen house price growth and ease affordability challenges across the country. The recently revised National Planning Framework is a major step forward in this regard, while the new Housing Activation Office will work to address barriers to the delivery of infrastructure projects needed to enable housing development.
Measures such as the Local Authority Home Loan, the Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Scheme, the Help to Buy Incentive, First Home Scheme and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant are also available to help make home ownership more affordable.
The First Home Scheme is a shared equity scheme, designed to help bridge the gap for eligible first-time buyers, eligible home buyers, and self-builders, between their deposit and mortgage, and the price of their new home (within price ceilings established across the country).
The First Home Scheme Designated Activity Company (DAC) is fully responsible for the operation of the First Home Scheme on behalf of all shareholders, including price-ceiling reviews. At its launch, First Home Scheme announced it would review all price ceilings at 6-month intervals. The DAC take into account a range of factors as part of these reviews, including the median price and volume of new builds purchased by first time buyers in each local authority area.
At the end of June 2025, the First Home DAC published the outcome of its sixth scheduled review of the price-ceilings that apply to qualifying homes. New price-ceilings were agreed for 16 local authority areas, including Fingal which increased from €475,000 to €500,000, and came into effect on 1 July 2025.
More information on price-ceiling reviews is available on the First Home Scheme website.
