Mortgage Allowance Scheme
Introduction
Social housing tenants and tenant purchasers who are taking out a mortgage to buy or build a private house may qualify for the Mortgage Allowance Scheme. The Scheme is designed to ease the transition from social housing to paying a mortgage.
An allowance of up to €11,450 is payable directly to the lending agency over a 5-year period and your repayments are reduced accordingly for the first 5 years of the mortgage. Your mortgage may be from a commercial lending agency or from a local authority.
Rules
You may be eligible if you are:
- 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. However, if you are buying a house under the Shared Ownership Scheme, you are not eligible for the Mortgage Allowance Scheme.
- An approved housing body tenant for more than 1 year in housing provided under the Rental Subsidy Scheme, and you are giving up your tenancy and taking out a mortgage to buy or build a private house.
The house must be suitable for your needs, meet certain minimum standards and be acceptable to the local authority. The amount of the mortgage must be at least €38,092.14.
The allowance is paid directly to the lending agency and your mortgage payments are reduced in each of the first 5 years as follows:
| Year | Allowance per year |
| First | €3,560 |
| Second | €2,800 |
| Third | €2,040 |
| Fourth | €1,780 |
| Fifth | €1,270 |
The allowance paid in any year cannot exceed the amount of the mortgage repayments.
How to apply
Your local authority will have more information and application forms.