Poll: Do you think the State should back cheap mortgages for first-home buyers?
Some are worried a new scheme could create further demand in the housing market.
THE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED that it’s hoping to inject €200 million into a new mortgage scheme for first-time buyers.
To qualify for the mortgages, which will be offered with lower interest rates than those provided by the main banks, would-be buyers need to have experienced knock-backs or offers of insufficient funding from two different lenders.
Announcing the so-called ‘Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan’, Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy said the product is aimed at people who aren’t eligible for social housing but still can’t afford to buy a house.
Some are already sceptical of the new scheme. Labour’s housing spokesperson, Jan O’Sullivan, accused the government of simply rebranding the existing local authority scheme and that it should instead be focusing on affordable housing.
Meanwhile, many economic pundits suggested the move could follow in the footsteps of the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme by creating further demand in a market where the problem was a chronic undersupply of new homes.
With that in mind, we’re asking Fora readers this week: Do you think the State should back cheap mortgages for first-home buyers?
