Mortgage Allowance Scheme

Local authorities may provide tenants and tenant purchasers a mortgage allowance to help them move from renting to buying or building a private house.

The Mortgage Allowance Scheme is a social housing option which assists tenants and tenant purchasers of local authority dwellings, who wish to return their dwellings to the authority and purchase or build a private dwelling for their own occupation.  It does this by reducing their mortgage repayments over the first five years of their mortgage. 

The amount of the allowance is €11,450 payable over five years.  The allowance is paid directly to the lending agency and results in your mortgage repayments in the first five years being reduced by the relevant annual amount of the allowance, i.e.  

  • €3,560 in the 1st year
  • €2,800 in the 2nd year
  • €2,040 in the 3rd year
  • €1,780 in the 4th year
  • €1,270 in the 5th year 

The allowance paid in any year cannot exceed the amount of the mortgage repayments, and the applicant must continue to occupy the private dwelling as his/her normal place of residence throughout the 5-year period to which the allowance relates.

You will qualify for this scheme if you are:

  • tenants or tenant purchasers of local authority dwellings or are tenants, whose tenancies are of not less than one year’s duration, of houses provided by an approved voluntary body under the Rental Subsidy Scheme, and
  • return your existing dwelling to the authority or the voluntary body, as applicable, in a fit and tenantable condition (having regard to reasonable wear and tear and any repairs for which the tenant is not responsible) and free of arrears of rent or tenant purchase annuities, and
  • provide the private dwelling by way of a mortgage loan of not less than €38,092.

How to Apply

You should make application to the Council on the prescribed Application Form.  The local authority will issue to an eligible applicant a letter of intent indicating that s/he will qualify for the mortgage allowance subject to the return of the existing dwelling and compliance with the terms of the scheme. It is in the applicant’s own interest to obtain this letter of intent before entering into any commitment in relation to the private dwelling.

Link to application form (to be revised)