Extension of Help to Buy scheme and increase in Rent Tax Credit among budget housing measures

An extension of the Help to Buy Scheme, an increased Rent Tax Credit, and a sharp rise in the stamp duty on bulk acquisitions of houses (ten or more in one year) are among the housing measures announced in the budget.
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, said the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is being allocated €7.8 billion for 2025, of which more than €2 billion will be for ten thousand new build social homes.
A further €680 million of the Department’s total budget is for the delivery of 6,400 affordable homes next year, he said.
The Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said a further €1.25 billion is being allocated to the Land Development Agency, to continue its work on delivering social and affordable homes. The total funding available to the agency is now €6.25 billion.
The Help To Buy Scheme, which provides tax breaks to first time buyers and has been availed of by approximately 50,000 buyers since being introduced, is being extended to the end of 2029, at a full-year cost of €185 million.
The Rent Tax Credit, Mr Chambers said, is being increased by €250, bringing it to €1,000 for an individual and €2,000 for a jointly assessed couple, with the increase being introduced both for this year and next year.
To discourage investment funds, and support aspiring homeowners, the minister announced a jump in the stamp duty rate on bulk purchases (more than ten in a single year) to 15 per cent, from 10 per cent, with immediate effect.
He also introduced a new stamp duty rate of 6 per cent for high-end home sales, with the higher rate applying to the portion of the sale price above €1.5 million. A stamp duty rate of two per cent will apply to the value above €1 million, with the portion of the price below €1 million attracting the one per cent rate.
The Vacant Homes Tax, which figures last year showed was only being imposed on the owners of 3,500 homes, is being increased to seven times a property’s Local Property Tax charge, from the current rate of five. The new rate comes into effect in November.
To help property owners bring vacant property to the rental market, the minister is extending tax relief for pre-letting expenses incurred by landlords to the end of 2027.
To ensure the Residential Zoned Land Tax does not unduly impact on landowners carrying out genuine economic activity on the land, the Minister is introducing an exemption option in 2025 to reflect such activity. Guidelines are to be issued to local authorities.
An expenditure document produced by the Department of Finance said funding for the Government’s Housing for All strategy in 2025 will be €4.85 billion, of which €3.2 billion will be for capital purposes, and €1.65 billion current. Lending from the Land Development Agency and the Housing Finance Agency will bring the total capital provision for housing in 2025 to more than €6 billion.
Ten thousand new households will have their housing needs met under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).