Ireland has two main state schemes aimed at first-time buyers struggling to fund the upfront cost of a home: Help to Buy (HTB), a tax refund, and the First Home Scheme (FHS), a state equity stake. They work very differently, and understanding the difference matters because they can sometimes be combined — but not always, and not without limits.
Help to Buy: a tax refund, not a grant
Help to Buy refunds income tax and DIRT you've paid over the previous four tax years, up to whichever is lower of:
- €30,000, or
- 10% of the purchase price
So on a €280,000 new build, the maximum available is 10% of €280,000 = €28,000 (assuming you've paid enough tax over the last four years to cover it) — it only hits the full €30,000 cap on homes priced at €300,000 or more.
To qualify, you need to be a genuine first-time buyer, buying or self-building a new home (HTB doesn't apply to second-hand properties), the purchase price must be €500,000 or less, and your mortgage must cover at least 70% of the purchase price. The scheme currently runs for purchases and self-builds up to 31 December 2029.
Because it's a refund of tax already paid, the amount you can actually claim is capped by your own tax history — someone with little PAYE/DIRT paid in the relevant years may not be able to claim the full 10%/€30,000 even if the price would otherwise qualify.
First Home Scheme: an equity stake, not a loan
The First Home Scheme takes a different approach: the State (via the FHS fund, backed by AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB and the Housing Agency) takes a direct equity stake in your home, reducing the mortgage you need to take out.
- Used on its own, FHS can cover up to 30% of the purchase price.
- Used combined with Help to Buy (new builds only, since HTB is new-build-only), the FHS share is capped at 20% instead.
- You still need to fund a deposit of at least 10% yourself, and FHS won't issue a stake below roughly 2.5% of the price or €10,000, whichever is higher — it's not meant for very small top-ups.
Because it's equity, not a grant, the State's stake grows or shrinks with your home's value, and FHS charges a "service charge" on its share if you don't buy it out within a set number of years — full mechanics are on firsthomescheme.ie.
FHS also caps the purchase price itself, with limits set per local authority area and reviewed roughly twice a year (most recently changed 1 January 2026) — the cap is higher in Dublin and Wicklow than in most other counties. Because these county figures move on their own schedule, check the current ceiling for your area directly on firsthomescheme.ie before relying on FHS eligibility for a specific property.
Combining the two
You can use HTB and FHS together, but only where HTB structurally applies in the first place — meaning you're a first-time buyer purchasing a new build within the €500,000 HTB price ceiling. If those conditions hold, FHS support drops from 30% to 20% of the price when combined with HTB, since you're already getting support from the other scheme.
If you're buying a second-hand home, HTB simply isn't available (it's new-build only), so FHS alone — up to 30% — is the only one of the two schemes on the table.
Working out what they're worth to you
Both schemes change the cash and mortgage you actually need, not just the headline price. Our Total Cost of Buying calculator models both schemes together — including the HTB eligibility checks (first-time buyer, new build, price ceiling, mortgage-size requirement) and the FHS percentage that depends on whether HTB is genuinely usable on that property — and shows your resulting mortgage, loan-to-value, and cash needed at completion.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the First Home Scheme on a second-hand home? Yes — unlike Help to Buy, FHS isn't restricted to new builds, so it can be used alone (up to 30%) on a second-hand purchase, subject to the local price ceiling for that area.
Do I have to pay back the First Home Scheme stake? Eventually, yes, but there's no fixed monthly repayment — you buy out the State's equity stake whenever you choose (or when you sell/refinance), at the home's value at that time, not the original purchase price.
Does Help to Buy reduce my mortgage, like the First Home Scheme does? Not directly — HTB is a refund paid toward your deposit/closing costs, while FHS reduces the mortgage amount itself by taking an equity share. Both end up reducing how much cash or borrowing you need, just through different mechanisms.