Is Help to Buy a grant?

No. It is a refund of Income Tax and DIRT you have already paid. Universal Social Charge and PRSI are not included. If the tax paid in the years you select is low, the refund is low, even if the euro cap is higher.

Do I need to have paid tax in all four previous years?

No. Revenue asks you to select at least one year, and you can select up to four. The years on offer are the four tax years before the year you apply, not the year you later make the claim. The refund cannot exceed the Income Tax and DIRT paid in the years you choose.

Who receives the refund?

On a purchase of a new home, Revenue pays the approved qualifying contractor. On a self-build, Revenue pays an account you hold. The December 2025 applicant guide says that is an Irish account you nominate. Revenue’s current “How much can you claim?” page says it is an account you hold with your mortgage provider. Check the account on the claim before you submit.

Can I use Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme on the same new home?

Yes, on a new build or a self-build, if you qualify for each scheme separately. The First Home Scheme then caps its equity at 20% of the price or build cost instead of 30%. Help to Buy cannot be used with the First Home Scheme’s tenant-purchase product, because that is a second-hand home. First Home Scheme equity does not count towards the Help to Buy 70% mortgage test.

Does Help to Buy cover apartments?

Yes, if the apartment is a new home that has never been lived in, the price is €500,000 or less, and you meet the buyer and mortgage tests. The contractor still has to be Revenue-approved.

Help to Buy for new builds in Ireland

Last reviewed: 10 October 2026.

Help to Buy is a Revenue refund of Irish Income Tax and DIRT you have already paid. It helps with the deposit on a new house or apartment you will live in, or on a self-build. It does not apply to a second-hand home.

If you are buying from a developer, the refund is paid to the approved qualifying contractor, not to your solicitor. If you are self-building, a solicitor registered with Revenue verifies the claim and the refund is paid to you.

Key takeaways

You choose at least one, and up to four, of the four tax years before the year you apply. You do not need tax paid in every one of those years.
For applications from 7 October 2026, Revenue’s cap is €35,000, and it is still limited by 10% of the price and by the tax you actually paid.
The purchase price or self-build valuation must be €500,000 or less, and the mortgage must be at least 70% of that value.
On a purchase, the contractor must be on Revenue’s qualifying contractor list before you buy.

Buying a new home or self-building

	Buying a new home	Self-build
Who checks the claim	The approved qualifying contractor	A solicitor registered with Revenue for Help to Buy
Who is paid	The qualifying contractor, as part of your deposit	You, into the account on the claim
When you can claim	After you sign the purchase contract	After the first drawdown of the mortgage
Value limit	Purchase value of €500,000 or less	Lender’s approved valuation of €500,000 or less

You must be a first-time buyer. That means you have not previously bought or built a house or apartment, on your own or with someone else, in Ireland or abroad. Everyone on the mortgage has to be a first-time buyer. A guarantor is not added to the Help to Buy application. You still need a mortgage from a qualifying lender of at least 70% of the purchase value, or of the approved valuation if you are self-building. Equity from the First Home Scheme does not count towards that 70%. There is a separate rule for the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme where the contract was signed on or after 11 October 2023. The home has to be your main home for five years.

How much you can get

Revenue’s “How much can you claim?” page, checked on 10 October 2026, sets the refund at the lowest of three figures. For an application from 7 October 2026 to 31 December 2029, those figures are €35,000, 10% of the purchase value (or of the approved valuation on a self-build), and the Income Tax plus DIRT you paid in the four tax years before you apply. The same page says you are in that €35,000 band if, between 7 October 2026 and 31 December 2029, you sign the contract or, on a self-build, draw down the first part of the mortgage.

Applications from 23 July 2020 to 6 October 2026 use the same 10% test and the same tax-paid test, with a €30,000 cap. The cap is per property, not per person. USC and PRSI do not count. The December 2025 applicant summary still describes the €30,000 enhanced cap through 2029, so use the live Revenue page for the amount and the summary for the application steps.

Example using those rules: on a €400,000 new home, 10% is €40,000, but the current cap is €35,000. If the Income Tax and DIRT in the years you select add up to €18,000, the refund is €18,000, because that is the lowest of the three.

The four-year window

You do not have to have paid tax in all four previous years. In the application you select at least one year, and at most four. The years you can pick are the four tax years before the year you apply. Each person in a joint application can pick their own years. PAYE applicants file a Form 12 for each year they select and should wait for the Statement of Liability before applying. Self-assessed applicants use ROS and need to be tax compliant for the years they claim.

How a purchase claim is paid

Check the contractor is on Revenue’s qualifying contractor list before you pay a booking deposit you cannot get back.
Apply in myAccount if you are PAYE, or in ROS if you are self-assessed. You can do this before you have signed.
After the contract is signed, submit the claim with the contract, the mortgage offer, and the signed acceptance. If you are also using the First Home Scheme, say so on the claim. Do not include that equity in the mortgage amount.
Give the contractor your claim number and access code. Revenue pays the contractor only after they verify the claim.

The acknowledgement shows an expiry date. If the claim is not in by then, you apply again. A fresh application uses the four tax years before that new application year.

How a self-build claim is paid

You do not need a qualifying contractor. After the first mortgage drawdown, you claim with evidence of that drawdown, the mortgage offer, and the lender’s valuation. Your solicitor must already be registered with Revenue to verify Help to Buy self-builds. You give them the claim number and access code. Revenue’s applicant summary says the refund goes to an Irish bank account you nominate. The live “How much can you claim?” page says it is paid to a bank account you hold with your mortgage provider. Confirm which account is on the claim screen before you sign it.

Common mistakes

Treating a developer’s “HTB eligible” label as approval, assuming you must have four full years of tax, or expecting the refund to land in your solicitor’s client account on a purchase. The other practical miss is signing with a contractor who is not on the qualifying list. IrishBuilds does not give tax or legal advice. To look at developments, start with new builds Ireland, new builds Dublin, or new builds Cork, and read the First Home Scheme guide if you need equity as well as the tax refund.

FAQs

Is Help to Buy a grant?: No. It is a refund of Income Tax and DIRT you have already paid. Universal Social Charge and PRSI are not included. If the tax paid in the years you select is low, the refund is low, even if the euro cap is higher.
Do I need to have paid tax in all four previous years?: No. Revenue asks you to select at least one year, and you can select up to four. The years on offer are the four tax years before the year you apply, not the year you later make the claim. The refund cannot exceed the Income Tax and DIRT paid in the years you choose.
Who receives the refund?: On a purchase of a new home, Revenue pays the approved qualifying contractor. On a self-build, Revenue pays an account you hold. The December 2025 applicant guide says that is an Irish account you nominate. Revenue’s current “How much can you claim?” page says it is an account you hold with your mortgage provider. Check the account on the claim before you submit.
Can I use Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme on the same new home?: Yes, on a new build or a self-build, if you qualify for each scheme separately. The First Home Scheme then caps its equity at 20% of the price or build cost instead of 30%. Help to Buy cannot be used with the First Home Scheme’s tenant-purchase product, because that is a second-hand home. First Home Scheme equity does not count towards the Help to Buy 70% mortgage test.
Does Help to Buy cover apartments?: Yes, if the apartment is a new home that has never been lived in, the price is €500,000 or less, and you meet the buyer and mortgage tests. The contractor still has to be Revenue-approved.

Sources

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