Sinn Féin would wind down the Government’s Help to Buy scheme over five years, changing rules governing the scheme and lowering the grant each year if in power - and immediately end a swathe of Government development subsidies.
The party’s new housing policy, due next month, will promise a wide range of schemes for private residential development which it says will bring down the cost of housing and redirect State intervention away from subsidising development, focusing instead on activating construction.
It will pledge 175,000 new homes for private purchase, self-build or rent over five years.
Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said that it would begin cutting the amount of money available to buyers under Help to Buy in 2026 from €30,000 to €24,000, and continue cutting it by €6,000 annually to 2029, with final drawdowns in 2030.
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Next year, rules governing the scheme would be changed so users would have to have a mortgage of 85 per cent of the cost of their home, as opposed to 70 per cent now.
Meanwhile, it would immediately close the Government’s First Home shared equity scheme to new applicants and close the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, Croi Conaithe Cities, Project Tosaigh and the Sustainable Tenancies Affordable Rents schemes.
In their place, Sinn Féin is promising to lower the cost of debt for smaller builders, to enact strict new “use it or lose it” planning and zoning rules to tackle speculation and land hoarding, expand the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders, and restructure how the State funds development. Schemes will also be targeted at infrastructure provision, while current government development waivers will be curtailed and targeted at smaller builders.
Mr Ó Broin pledged 175,000 homes for purchase over five years: “We would achieve this by supporting the residential development community to build more high-quality homes while removing much of the risk and delay that pushes house prices up”.
He is also promising extra resources for planners and new statutory timelines for the planning process, as well as schemes to support compact site developments.
“As the total number of new homes to buy rises and the price of those homes fall, we can phase out inflationary demand side subsidies such as help to buy. While this scheme has benefited some, it has also pushed house prices up, locking even more people out of home ownership,” Mr Ó Broin said.
Mr Ó Broin said complete costings would be published alongside the plan in early September. The Department of Public Expenditure is providing some as part of the pre-budgetary process, while others have come from the Department of Housing. The party has published some costings as part of its alternative Budget 2024 document, he said.
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