Low cost housing sites

Information

Local authorities in Ireland may provide housing sites at low cost to help people in need of housing, to provide their own housing. The local authority decides the cost of the site; it may be as low as 126.97 euro.

The building costs may be funded by a mortgage from a bank, building society, or if you are eligible, from a local authority. (Read more about local authority mortgages here). The scheme is specifically designed to be used with other housing schemes such as the Shared Ownership Scheme; the Affordable Housing Scheme and the Mortgage Allowance Scheme.

If the site needs specialised development works to enable construction to go ahead, the local authority may make a financial contribution to these costs.

Rules

If you are:

• registered on a housing waiting list with a local authority, or
• a local authority tenant or a tenant purchaser and you want to buy a private house and return your present house to the local authority, or
• a tenant for more than one year of a home provided by a housing association under the Rental Subsidy Scheme and you want to buy a private house and return your present house to the local authority, or
• a member of a co-operative or non-profit housing group of which at least 75% of the members are tenants, tenant purchasers or registered on the local authority housing waiting list or
• a person involved in a group shared ownership project

then you may be able to get a low cost site for the building of a new house.

A group shared ownership project is a housing scheme consisting of shared ownership housing, Shared Ownership Scheme which is sponsored by a local authority or housing co-operative. Low cost sites can be made available by the local authority for all the houses in the scheme whether or not each individual would be eligible.

Selling your house

If you sell your house within 10 years, you will have to pay the local authority the difference between the sale price and the market value of the site. This amount will reduce by 10% each year after that, so if you sell after 20 years, you will not have to pay anything to the local authority.

How to apply

If you wish to apply for a low cost housing site or have an enquiry as to your eligibility, contact the Housing Department of your local authority.