First Home Scheme extended
The First Home Scheme (FHS) has been extended to June 2027 with an additional allocation of €30 million to resource it, the Government announced in May 2025.
The additional €30 million brings the State’s commitment to FHS up to €370 million which is matched 50:50 by participating banks to bring the total commitment to the scheme up to €740 million. Under the scheme, the State can fund up to 30 per cent of a property’s purchase price in exchange for an equity share in the home which the homeowner can buy back.
Since its launch in July 2022, 3,323 buyers in 25 counties have completed the purchase of their home under FHS, with 6,774 buyers in all 26 counties approved for the scheme. A total of 15,356 potential buyers have registered their interest in the scheme. In Q1 2025, there were 858 new FHS applications, a year-on-year increase of 49 per cent. Approvals in this period grew by 51 per cent to 727.
By the end of Q1 2025, the average purchase price under the scheme stood at €384,859 with average support provided under FHS equalling 17 per cent of the average purchase price, a total of €66,147. Under the scheme, 72 per cent of approvals have been for buyers in Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Meath, and Wicklow with the remaining 28 per cent spread across the remaining 21 counties.
Reaction
Speaking to reporters outside Leinster House on the morning of the announcement, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD called the extension “a mistake”, adding it will “make things worse”. He said: “One of the reasons why so many people are locked out of being able to buy their own home is house prices are going upwards. The First Home Scheme contributes to that.”
“It’s not the only factor, but it’s one of them. Therefore, anything that contributes to putting upward pressure on house prices is a problem for me.”
During a joint committee debate on housing, local government, and heritage on 27 May 2025, independent TD Brian Stanley said: “Regarding prices, the curve seemed to go on a steep incline after the shared equity scheme and some other ones were brought in.”
Robert Kelly, director of economics and statistics at the Central Bank of Ireland, said for policymakers to target supply increase, “the only channel through which you can do it is to increase prices”. Kelly said he believes the policy is aimed at creating affordability and generating supply “to mitigate some of the price pressures”.
“I want everyone to be able to afford their own home. This is something that should be within reach for people, and this scheme is one of the ways we are making that possible.”
Housing Minister James Browne TD
He also addressed the fact that the Government is considering extending the scheme to second-hand homes asserting that this “runs the risk you will increase the price pressure side of it”.
Prices
First outlined in the Government’s housing Strategy, Housing for All: a New Housing Plan for Ireland, FHS aims to bridge the gap between a homebuyer’s deposit and mortgage, and the price of their new home. It is primarily targeted at assisting first-time buyers, and ‘fresh start applicants’, those who previously owned a home but no longer have a financial interest in it.
Prior to the launch of the scheme, in February 2021, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) told an Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government, and Heritage that a combination of constrained housing supply and increased purchasing power enabled by the shared equity scheme would “very likely lead to higher house prices”. In November 2021, the Central Bank of Ireland said “the scheme could create upward pressure on house prices” in a report called A financial stability perspective on the First Home shared equity scheme.
From March 2022 to March 2025, 148,673 dwelling purchases by households at market prices were filed with Revenue, according to data from the Central Statistics Office. Of these, 52,071 (35 per cent) were by first time buyer owner-occupiers. This represents a percentage increase in the period from March 2019 to March 2022 when 42,462 (32.4 per cent) of 130,919 dwellings were purchased by first-time buyer owner occupiers. The total number of first time buyers increased by 22 per cent from 14,755 in the 12 months to March 2020 to 18,013 in the 12 months to March 2025.
In March 2025, 3,617 dwelling purchases by households were filed with Revenue for an average value of €414,710. This represents an increase of 22 per cent in property prices from March 2022 when 3,918 dwellings were purchased for an average price of €344,359.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne TD says: “I want everyone to be able to afford their own home. This is something that should be within reach for people, and this scheme is one of the ways we are making that possible.
“The Scheme has succeeded in responding to affordable housing needs in every county across the country to date, and has allowed so many to gain the keys to a permanent home.”
