DAVY VIEW

Yesterday (July 7th), the Irish government launched the new First Home Scheme, essentially a carbon copy of the UK’s Help-to-Buy, providing equity loans up to 30% of the purchase price for first-time buyers of newly built homes. This is a substantial rise in purchasing power. First-time buyers constrained by the 3.5x regulatory threshold on mortgage loan-to-income ratios can now effectively borrow in excess of 4.5x their incomes.