Affordable Purchase Calculator Ireland

The Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme (LAAPS), now presented as the Starter Home Purchase Scheme, helps first-time and qualifying second-chance buyers purchase a new home at a reduced price. The local authority pays part of the price and takes an equity share of between 5% and 40% of the market value in return. You repay that share on sale, or buy it out at any time. It was introduced under the Affordable Housing Act 2021.

You must be a first-time buyer, or qualify under the "fresh start" rules (for example divorced, separated, or through insolvency or bankruptcy, and no longer holding an interest in the previous home). You must be over 18 with the right to live indefinitely in Ireland, buying the home for owner-occupation as your normal residence, with mortgage approval from an approved lender and a deposit of at least 10%. On means, gross household income multiplied by 4 must not exceed 85.5% of the market value of the home. Separately, your assessed purchasing power including savings above the allowance must not exceed 95% of market value.

Regulation 6(1) of the Affordable Housing (No. 2) Regulations 2023 sets the minimum price as (A divided by 9) multiplied by 10, where A is your gross household income multiplied by 4, or the bank's confirmed maximum mortgage where you hold written evidence. That is a 90% mortgage plus a 10% deposit. You pay the higher of that figure and the council's own minimum price for the home. On a EUR 70,000 household income the borrowing capacity is EUR 280,000, so the price works out at EUR 311,111 with a EUR 31,111 deposit.

There is no national income limit, and no regional one either. The limit is set per home: Regulation 2(1) makes you ineligible where gross household income multiplied by 4 exceeds 85.5% of the market value. The limit for any home is therefore 85.5% of its market value divided by 4. That is about EUR 64,125 on a EUR 300,000 home, EUR 85,500 on a EUR 400,000 home, and EUR 96,188 on a EUR 450,000 home. Earning above the limit for one home does not rule you out of the scheme, it rules you out of that home.

Between 5% and 40% of the market value of the home, set by Regulation 6(4). It is measured against market value, not against the reduced price you pay, and there is no separate euro cap: Section 12(4) of the Act allows the Minister to prescribe either a monetary ceiling or a percentage band, and only the band was prescribed. On a EUR 450,000 home the maximum council share is therefore EUR 180,000. The exact percentage is the gap between what you can pay and the market value, so a higher income means a smaller council share.

A percentage of market value at the time you repay, never the original euro amount. If the council contributed EUR 99,000 on a EUR 450,000 home that is a 22% share, so you repay EUR 110,000 if the home is later worth EUR 500,000, and EUR 88,000 if it is worth EUR 400,000. Section 14(1)(a) values the home disregarding any increase attributable to material improvements you carried out, so an extension or attic conversion is entirely yours. A material improvement means an addition or alteration, not repairing, painting or decorating. Section 14(1)(b) also disregards any fall in value caused by your own neglect.

You give written notice, the market value is fixed through the statutory valuation mechanism, and you pay within 3 months of that determination. Each payment reduces the percentage by the share of market value it represents. The minimum payment is EUR 10,000 unless less clears the balance in full. You can pay in as many instalments as you like, at any time, with no interest, no service charge, no minimum holding period and no early repayment penalty. Once redeemed in full the council discharges the burden on the property, at your expense. Redemption is compulsory on sale, on death, and by the long stop date, which is up to 40 years.

Through the valuation mechanism in section 14(4). The council serves a notice setting out its estimate of market value. You have 21 days to disagree in writing, and silence is treated as agreement, so the council's estimate becomes binding by default if you do not respond. If you do disagree, you nominate an independent valuer from a panel the council maintains, and that determination is final and binding. The council pays the valuer, then recovers half the fee from you as a simple contract debt.

You need the council's prior written consent, which cannot be unreasonably withheld. It may grant consent subject to a stated minimum selling price, and it will inspect the property first. The equity is paid out of the proceeds after prior charges and your vouched selling costs. If those proceeds are insufficient to clear the equity, the council discharges the burden but the remaining balance is recoverable from you as a simple contract debt under section 17(10). A falling market reduces the euro value of the share, because it is a percentage, but it does not write off a shortfall.

On a realisation event under section 18(2): the long stop date passes without full redemption, every purchaser dies or is adjudicated bankrupt, a mortgagee or receiver takes possession, the home is compulsorily purchased, it is demolished, destroyed or damaged so as to materially affect market value, it is abandoned, a material breach of covenant is not remedied after notice, or the council is satisfied you wilfully misled it about your eligibility. The council must then serve a realisation notice giving at least 3 months, during which you can still redeem the equity yourself and keep the home.

Enter your total savings, across every current, savings and deposit account. The deposit is not a separate figure you choose, it is derived. Under Regulation 2(6) the statutory deposit is your borrowing capacity divided by 9, which works out as 10% of the price you pay, with a 90% mortgage covering the rest. Splitting savings into "deposit" and "other savings" yourself would produce the wrong answer, because the EUR 30,000 allowance is measured against the derived deposit, not against whatever you set aside.

Yes. You may keep your deposit plus an extra EUR 30,000, and every euro above that is added to your assessed purchasing power. Two things follow. First, if the total then passes 95% of the market value you are not eligible at all, because you are treated as able to buy without help. Second, below that ceiling the excess does not disqualify you, it is applied to the purchase, so a bigger balance means a higher price and a smaller council share. On a EUR 450,000 home with EUR 70,000 income, savings of EUR 45,000 give a price of EUR 311,111 and a 30.9% council share, while savings of EUR 150,000 give a price of EUR 400,000 and an 11.1% share. Your mortgage stays capped at 4 times income either way, so the extra goes in as cash.

Yes, and a gift helps in two ways. Regulation 2(4) speaks of "savings or money", so a family gift or an inheritance sitting in your account is assessed exactly like savings: the first slice, equal to your deposit plus EUR 30,000, is ignored, and anything above that is added to your purchasing power. The second use is the more common one. Where your purchasing power lands below the council's minimum price for a home, you are not automatically ruled out, you can bridge the shortfall with a gift and become eligible. Your lender will want a signed letter confirming the money is a gift and is not repayable.

Central Bank lending rules cap a first-time buyer at 4 times gross annual income and a second or subsequent buyer at 3.5 times, with a maximum loan of 90% of the price, which is where the 10% deposit comes from. Lenders hold a limited allowance to go above the income multiple for a share of their yearly lending, so an individual offer can reach roughly 4.5 to 4.75 times income, and repayment capacity checks can pull it below 4 times. For affordable purchase the multiple is fixed: the assessment uses 4 times gross household income regardless of what your bank offers. A bank figure only replaces it under Regulation 2(3), where you hold written evidence that you cannot borrow 85.5% of the market value.

Four things, and application windows are short, usually three weeks from the day homes are advertised. First, 12 months of statements for every current, savings, deposit, credit union and post office account, for each applicant, because savings are assessed across that period rather than on the day you apply. Second, a valid mortgage approval in principle from a pillar lender (AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB, EBS, Haven, or the Local Authority Home Loan), or written evidence that no lender will fund 85.5% of market value. Third, gross household income for the preceding 12 months, a PPSN for every applicant, and proof of the right to reside indefinitely in the State. Fourth, if you are claiming Help to Buy, the Revenue printout from myAccount or ROS showing your maximum entitlement. Submit one application per scheme: councils disqualify applicants who submit multiple applications or give misleading information.

It depends which test you fail, and each has a computable target. If the gap is above the 40% maximum equity share, you need to cover 60% of market value, reachable by raising household income to 13.5% of the market value (a second applicant counts), by a gift, since money above your deposit plus EUR 30,000 is added to purchasing power euro for euro, or by looking at a home priced at or below your purchasing power divided by 0.6. If you fall short on the deposit, only cash fixes it: savings, a gift or Help to Buy each close it one for one, and a cheaper home does not help, because your price is set by your income rather than by the value of the home. If your income or savings are too high, the scheme is closed on that home but opens on a more valuable one. If no two lenders will offer enough, the Local Authority Home Loan lends up to 90% of market value, with income limits of EUR 80,000 single and EUR 85,000 joint. The calculator sets out your own figures for each of these routes.

Yes. The Help to Buy (HTB) tax refund is stackable with LAAPS or the First Home Scheme. HTB refunds up to EUR 30,000 or 10% of the property price, whichever is lower, of income tax and DIRT paid in the previous four years, on new homes priced up to EUR 500,000. The scheme runs to 31 December 2029. HTB counts towards your deposit but is excluded from the savings test, because it is a tax refund paid at drawdown rather than accumulated money, which makes it the cleanest way to close a deposit gap. Combining HTB with the First Home Scheme reduces the maximum FHS equity to 20%.

LAAPS is run by your local authority and applies to homes the council makes available. The First Home Scheme is a State and bank backed scheme for private new builds sold by developers. Both are shared equity, but the cost of holding it differs sharply. LAAPS equity can reach 40% and carries no interest and no charge, ever. FHS equity is up to 30%, or 20% alongside Help to Buy, and attracts an annual service charge from year 6: 1.75% of the initial equity to year 15, 2.15% to year 29, and 2.85% after that.

LAAPS applications are made directly to the local authority running the scheme, typically opening for fixed application windows when new homes are released. Regulation 3(h) requires a window of at least 3 weeks. Decisions are usually made within 4 to 8 weeks. Plan ahead and have your mortgage approval and savings documentation in order before the window opens, because the assessment is on documents rather than estimates.

It is free, with no sign-up, and nothing you enter leaves your browser or is sent to your local authority. The maths follows the statutory formulas rather than a rule of thumb. Purchasing power, the statutory deposit and the EUR 30,000 savings allowance come from Regulation 2 of the Affordable Housing Regulations 2023 (S.I. No. 20 of 2023). The minimum price formula and the 5% to 40% equity band come from Regulation 6 of the Affordable Housing (No. 2) Regulations 2023 (S.I. No. 21 of 2023). Results are checked against the worked examples councils publish. Your local authority still makes the binding decision on full documentation, and it sets the market value and the minimum price for each home.