2017-21 help to buy scheme - megathread. All help to buy discussion here please

Creamy Goodness · 09-10-2019 3:47pm

rachaelf750 wrote: »

Ok,I have never purchased a property before and the only scheme on offer is not available to me as I am buying an older property, oh the fairness!

My only other choice is to purchase new or build or forgo any assistance.

Ireland desperately needs more houses, incentivising people to buy existing stock doesn't fit that goal.

Tipsy McSwagger · 09-10-2019 5:21pm

Mine has been sorted, developer has received the money. I’m delighted to only have needed to provide half the deposit.

tomister · 09-10-2019 8:15pm

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Mine has been sorted, developer has received the money. I’m delighted to only have needed to provide half the deposit.

Great news! Did you need the counter signed contracts in order to upload for the claim?
Signing this week and would love to get the claim sent off this week too!

GingerLily · 10-10-2019 9:24am

rachaelf750 wrote: »

My only other choice is to purchase new or build or forgo any assistance.

Pretty much the same as everyone's choices!

The help to buy doesn't really help that much either unless you need it for your deposit , as house prices are a little bit more inflated in new developments!

HarleyG · 12-10-2019 10:10am

Hi all I need some help please!! I’ve just started the process for applying for HTB we drew down mortgage October 2016, I’ve just tried to apply through revenue my account and it said ‘tax clearance certificate not issued’ I have no idea what this is as I have always being employed never self employed, has anyone else had this issue and where do I go from here? Other things it was looking for was p21 for 2016 and form12 for 2015 which I’ve done and resubmitted the application but this error about the tax clearance certificate is still coming up and won’t allow me to proceed until I have it sorted

A Neurotic · 12-10-2019 10:48am

HarleyG wrote: »

Hi all I need some help please!! I’ve just started the process for applying for HTB we drew down mortgage October 2016, I’ve just tried to apply through revenue my account and it said ‘tax clearance certificate not issued’ I have no idea what this is as I have always being employed never self employed, has anyone else had this issue and where do I go from here? Other things it was looking for was p21 for 2016 and form12 for 2015 which I’ve done and resubmitted the application but this error about the tax clearance certificate is still coming up and won’t allow me to proceed until I have it sorted

I had the same. My P21 for 2018 came back with an underpayment - I had to settle the balance with Revenue before I could proceed with my application. But here's where I got stuck - even after I paid the tax due, it still said "tax clearance certificate not issued" in my Help to Buy application.

It turns out you need to apply for a tax clearance cert separately. The good news is that it's extremely easy and fast. Log into revenue myaccount and scroll to the box at the bottom - "Manage my Record". There's a link there to apply for tax clearance. In my case I clicked the link and literally immediately got the cert. I could then straightaway proceed with the Help to Buy application.

Hope this helps!

Tipsy McSwagger · 12-10-2019 12:31pm

tomister wrote: »

Great news! Did you need the counter signed contracts in order to upload for the claim?
Signing this week and would love to get the claim sent off this week too!

I uploaded the contract that was signed by myself and the developer and the letter of approval from the bank.

HarleyG · 12-10-2019 2:08pm

Thank you so much for your help!ðŸ˜Š

HarleyG · 12-10-2019 2:09pm

Thanks so much!

A Neurotic wrote: »

I had the same. My P21 for 2018 came back with an underpayment - I had to settle the balance with Revenue before I could proceed with my application. But here's where I got stuck - even after I paid the tax due, it still said "tax clearance certificate not issued" in my Help to Buy application.

It turns out you need to apply for a tax clearance cert separately. The good news is that it's extremely easy and fast. Log into revenue myaccount and scroll to the box at the bottom - "Manage my Record". There's a link there to apply for tax clearance. In my case I clicked the link and literally immediately got the cert. I could then straightaway proceed with the Help to Buy application.

Hope this helps!

HarleyG · 14-10-2019 4:39pm

Hi all just need a bit more help regarding the HTB, so we drew down our first payment for our mortgage October 2016, we’re only claiming for HTB now as we just realised we could! So selected 2014,2015 and 2016 as the years to claim back and revenue came back with a figure approved of just under €5500, seems very low and was just wondering is it because they’ll only take 2015 and 2016 into consideration as 2014 would be outside the 4 year timeframe for claiming back tax? Definitely paid a lot more than €5500 between us for these 3 years so have no clue where they got that figure! :-(

el Fenomeno · 14-10-2019 5:57pm

HarleyG wrote: »

Hi all just need a bit more help regarding the HTB, so we drew down our first payment for our mortgage October 2016, we’re only claiming for HTB now as we just realised we could! So selected 2014,2015 and 2016 as the years to claim back and revenue came back with a figure approved of just under €5500, seems very low and was just wondering is it because they’ll only take 2015 and 2016 into consideration as 2014 would be outside the 4 year timeframe for claiming back tax? Definitely paid a lot more than €5500 between us for these 3 years so have no clue where they got that figure! :-(

What was the purchase price of the property?

Dolbhad · 14-10-2019 6:42pm

HarleyG wrote: »

Hi all just need a bit more help regarding the HTB, so we drew down our first payment for our mortgage October 2016, we’re only claiming for HTB now as we just realised we could! So selected 2014,2015 and 2016 as the years to claim back and revenue came back with a figure approved of just under €5500, seems very low and was just wondering is it because they’ll only take 2015 and 2016 into consideration as 2014 would be outside the 4 year timeframe for claiming back tax? Definitely paid a lot more than €5500 between us for these 3 years so have no clue where they got that figure! :-(

Yes I would think they could only consider two years as you can’t claim for 2014 now. But least that’s €5,500 you didn’t know you had.

niamhzie · 18-10-2019 11:59am

Hate bringing it up, but if we're in the house before November, does that mean we're liable for lpt from 2020? I presume we'll get a letter....?

charlietheminxx · 18-10-2019 12:29pm

niamhzie wrote: »

Hate bringing it up, but if we're in the house before November, does that mean we're liable for lpt from 2020? I presume we'll get a letter....?

New properties are exempt from LPT.

niamhzie · 18-10-2019 12:30pm

charlietheminxx wrote: »

New properties are exempt from LPT.

Forever exempt? Or just in the year of purchase?

charlietheminxx · 18-10-2019 12:37pm

niamhzie wrote: »

Forever exempt? Or just in the year of purchase?

Houses built since 2013 are exempt until at least 2021, when that policy will be reviewed.

niamhzie · 18-10-2019 12:40pm

charlietheminxx wrote: »

Houses built since 2013 are exempt until at least 2021, when that policy will be reviewed.

Great stuff thanks a mill!

C6 · 18-10-2019 4:20pm

According to citizens information lpt exemption only runs from 2013 to end of 2019 for new builds has it changed ?

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/housing_taxes_and_reliefs/local_property_tax_exemptions.html

charlietheminxx · 18-10-2019 4:29pm

C6 wrote: »

According to citizens information lpt exemption only runs from 2013 to end of 2019 for new builds has it changed ?

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/housing_taxes_and_reliefs/local_property_tax_exemptions.html

That page hasn't been updated since 2018 (weird for Citizen's Info, they're usually fairly on the ball). The government extended the exemption earlier this year:

https://www.gov.ie/en/news/6fff2e-minister-donohoe-announces-deferral-of-revaluation-date-for-local-pr/

C6 · 18-10-2019 5:43pm

Excellent thats good news thank you

shamtastic · 19-10-2019 4:54pm

Just need a bit of advice if anyone can help please. Because new builds were generally out of our budget and not on our radar, I hadn't proceeded with the HTB scheme before yesterday (which I am almost certain we qualify for). During the week we got offered a cancellation on a new build that is in budget (we could just about afford it though without HTB, but with a mortgage exception). I put down a booking deposit. Now I've started the HTB process. I initially told the estate agent that I wasn't availing of HTB, will they have an issue that I've put a booking deposit down and now want to avail of the HTB without having approval yet? Would they likely allow me a bit of time (3 weeks let's say) to get this sorted? I don't imagine there would be much movement on contracts until close to December. I will of course ask them myself but just want to gauge the likelihood here. Thanks in advance.

tomister · 20-10-2019 7:44am

shamtastic wrote: »

Just need a bit of advice if anyone can help please. Because new builds were generally out of our budget and not on our radar, I hadn't proceeded with the HTB scheme before yesterday (which I am almost certain we qualify for). During the week we got offered a cancellation on a new build that is in budget (we could just about afford it though without HTB, but with a mortgage exception). I put down a booking deposit. Now I've started the HTB process. I initially told the estate agent that I wasn't availing of HTB, will they have an issue that I've put a booking deposit down and now want to avail of the HTB without having approval yet? Would they likely allow me a bit of time (3 weeks let's say) to get this sorted? I don't imagine there would be much movement on contracts until close to December. I will of course ask them myself but just want to gauge the likelihood here. Thanks in advance.

Just ring them and let them know. You will also need to check that the developer is an approved contractor for HTB - ask the estate agent about this as the developer’s trading name doesn’t always match the list on revenue.
If they are approved the question of you using HTB will come up when signing and you’ll need to give the application number and access code to your solicitor for them to pass on to the developer’s solicitor

wirelessdude01 · 20-10-2019 8:37am

Is the lowest LTV ratio for the H2B 70%?

Creamy Goodness · 20-10-2019 9:56am

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Is the lowest LTV ratio for the H2B 70%?

Yes, stated here under mortgage.

https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/help-to-buy-incentive/what-type-of-property-qualifies.aspx

Amouar · 28-10-2019 8:02pm

Hi all,

We have some savings enough to allow us to pay for a small appartement outside Dublin in cash, but we were thinking of getting a mortgage in order to avail of the help to buy scheme.

I have 2 questions:

1) If we take a mortgage, when is the earliest time when we can settle it in full? obviously we want to do it as early as possible in order to pay the least interest possible. If we settle in full during the first few days/weeks, will the bank only ask us to pay the interest during the time before settling in full?

2) Are there any restrictions on the help to buy scheme when it comes to early settlement of the mortgage? Are we supposed to keep the mortgage for an X amount of time?

Thanks

Graham · 28-10-2019 9:02pm

Mod Note

Threads Merged

Amouar · 29-10-2019 11:21am

Any thoughts anyone?

GingerLily · 29-10-2019 7:26pm

Amouar wrote: »

Hi all,

We have some savings enough to allow us to pay for a small appartement outside Dublin in cash, but we were thinking of getting a mortgage in order to avail of the help to buy scheme.

I have 2 questions:

1) If we take a mortgage, when is the earliest time when we can settle it in full? obviously we want to do it as early as possible in order to pay the least interest possible. If we settle in full during the first few days/weeks, will the bank only ask us to pay the interest during the time before settling in full?

2) Are there any restrictions on the help to buy scheme when it comes to early settlement of the mortgage? Are we supposed to keep the mortgage for an X amount of time?

Thanks

You need at least 70% LTV mortgage from bank, and you have to live there for 5 years.

Otherwise you will have to repay revenue fully or partially, depending on how long you've lived there under their terms.

You also must have the mortgage for at least 2 years it seems.

Amouar · 29-10-2019 7:38pm

GingerLily wrote: »

You also must have the mortgage for at least 2 years it seems.

Do you know where I can find a confirmation about this?

GingerLily · 29-10-2019 7:40pm

Amouar wrote: »

Do you know where I can find a confirmation about this?

Revenues website, first thing that pops up when you Google it

Amouar · 29-10-2019 7:42pm

GingerLily wrote: »

Revenues website, first thing that pops up when you Google it

Can't find any mention of the 2 years mortgage rule on the revenue website. Can you please post a link?

GingerLily · 30-10-2019 12:06am

Amouar wrote: »

Can't find any mention of the 2 years mortgage rule on the revenue website. Can you please post a link?

Section 8

Creamy Goodness · 30-10-2019 6:37pm

It’s kinda obvious that you don’t need help to buy hence these restrictions.

GingerLily · 30-10-2019 7:46pm

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

It’s kinda obvious that you don’t need help to buy hence these restrictions.

They'll end up paying the equivalent of the HTB to the bank in interest, lol

Amouar · 30-10-2019 7:51pm

GingerLily wrote: »

They'll end up paying the equivalent of the HTB to the bank in interest, lol

We're obviously not that stupid

Amouar · 30-10-2019 7:59pm

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

It’s kinda obvious that you don’t need help to buy hence these restrictions.

If we can get even 1k€ back from the taxes that we've been paying, then why not?

The 2 years mortgage rule is what will stop us from applying for the HTB scheme.

GingerLily · 30-10-2019 8:05pm

Amouar wrote: »

We're obviously not that stupid

I wasn't sure, you didn't seem to have read much about it so it was hard to tell how much research you actually had put in.

Amouar · 30-10-2019 8:12pm

GingerLily wrote: »

I wasn't sure, you didn't seem to have read much about it so it was hard to tell how much research you actually had put in.

This is why I came asking for help here

Asking questions doesn't mean that we will sign up for the scheme unless we are sure that we'll be better off, which is obviously not the case here.

Thanks for your help anyway.

tomister · 30-10-2019 9:11pm

Has anyone submitted a claim recently? I didn't have an option to select my contractor when going through the process today. And I selected the purchase option as the declaration asked about paying the contractor directly.
I've sent my claim code off to my solicitor anyway but just a bit nervous about it now

Paul Tergat · 05-11-2019 11:38am

tomister wrote: »

Has anyone submitted a claim recently? I didn't have an option to select my contractor when going through the process today. And I selected the purchase option as the declaration asked about paying the contractor directly.
I've sent my claim code off to my solicitor anyway but just a bit nervous about it now

Would be interested to know this too - no option for the contractor.

It also only asked me to upload the contract to buy and didn't ask me to upload mortgage contract - does that sound right?

tomister · 05-11-2019 4:22pm

Paul Tergat wrote: »

Would be interested to know this too - no option for the contractor.

It also only asked me to upload the contract to buy and didn't ask me to upload mortgage contract - does that sound right?

I ended up contacting revenue and they said my claim had gone through to the verification stage successfully.

As for uploading the Mortgage contract I was able to upload it and the signed building contract by uploading them one at a time before moving on to the next section.

Hope this helps!

Paul Tergat · 05-11-2019 5:53pm

tomister wrote: »

I ended up contacting revenue and they said my claim had gone through to the verification stage successfully.

As for uploading the Mortgage contract I was able to upload it and the signed building contract by uploading them one at a time before moving on to the next section.

Hope this helps!

Thanks.

Wonder how I can get my mortgage contract into the portal then - I already have the claim code and the reference for the claim to pass onto builders but there will be no mortgage contract in revenue. ROS support surprisingly unhelpful....

Creamy Goodness · 05-11-2019 5:57pm

Paul Tergat wrote: »

Thanks.

Wonder how I can get my mortgage contract into the portal then - I already have the claim code and the reference for the claim to pass onto builders but there will be no mortgage contract in revenue. ROS support surprisingly unhelpful....

Get your solicitor to email you a photocopy of it. remember it needs to show both parties signatures.

Paul Tergat · 05-11-2019 6:04pm

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Get your solicitor to email you a photocopy of it. remember it needs to show both parties signatures.

Thanks but I have a copy of my mortgage letter of offer - I can't upload it to ROS HTB claim (which is now already submitted - there was only a prompt to upload the agreement with builder which I did). I'm now wondering how I get the letter of offer into the revenue HTB portal?

Creamy Goodness · 05-11-2019 6:07pm

Paul Tergat wrote: »

Thanks but I have a copy of my mortgage letter of offer - I can't upload it to ROS HTB claim (which is now already submitted - there was only a prompt to upload the agreement with builder which I did). I'm now wondering how I get the letter of offer into the revenue HTB portal?

ah sorry I misread, once you have your access code you should have a button to start the submission of your details. it'll ask you for purchase price, loan amount, deposit amount etc. I can't remember exact details, but the last step of this process requires the mortgage contract and the loan offer pack, both can be uploaded there.

how recent is it that you got the access code? I've found the portal sometimes needs a night or two to process stuff at night before you can proceed to next step.

Also keep ringing revenue, when you get an unhelpful person the next in line will be nicer to deal with. I had to ring them twice and got a foul person the first time then the second time they were nice as punch.

Paul Tergat · 05-11-2019 6:13pm

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

ah sorry I misread, once you have your access code you should have a button to start the submission of your details. it'll ask you for purchase price, loan amount, deposit amount etc. I can't remember exact details, but the last step of this process requires the mortgage contract and the loan offer pack, both can be uploaded there.

how recent is it that you got the access code? I've found the portal sometimes needs a night or two to process stuff at night before you can proceed to next step.

Also keep ringing revenue, when you get an unhelpful person the next in line will be nicer to deal with. I had to ring them twice and got a foul person the first time then the second time they were nice as punch.

Thanks and I think I am just explaining myself really badly. I have gone throguh all those details but it only asked for an upload of agreement with the builders and not the mortgage letter of offer so I went on without it. Therefore, having gone through all the steps I have the claim code and also the reference for the builders to claim their 5% but I now don't have the mortgage letter of offer on the revenue portal - I'm not sure if this is a problem and at this stage I can't go back in and add it.

Maybe constantly trying revenue is the way to go but got the line of it being tough luck as it's already all submitted.

tomister · 05-11-2019 6:53pm

Paul Tergat wrote: »

Thanks and I think I am just explaining myself really badly. I have gone throguh all those details but it only asked for an upload of agreement with the builders and not the mortgage letter of offer so I went on without it. Therefore, having gone through all the steps I have the claim code and also the reference for the builders to claim their 5% but I now don't have the mortgage letter of offer on the revenue portal - I'm not sure if this is a problem and at this stage I can't go back in and add it.

Maybe constantly trying revenue is the way to go but got the line of it being tough luck as it's already all submitted.

I get what you mean. That step was really unclear as it only asked for the builders contract.
What you can do is raise a query in the my enquires and ask them what the status is. If its not at verification then ask them to add the bank's letter of offer. You can attached files to your query. If it is at verification then you're good to go.

I just got confirmation that my claim was approved so not being able to select the contractor wasn't an issue.

Paul Tergat · 05-11-2019 7:02pm

tomister wrote: »

I get what you mean. That step was really unclear as it only asked for the builders contract.
What you can do is raise a query in the my enquires and ask them what the status is. If its not at verification then ask them to add the bank's letter of offer. You can attached files to your query. If it is at verification then you're good to go.

I just got confirmation that my claim was approved so not being able to select the contractor wasn't an issue.

Thanks. I had tried that and sent them the letter of offer but they didnt really address the issue, hence me then ringing. I think I will just have to make a few calls tomorrow but just really frustrating it doesn't say at the upload stage anything other than the builders contract.

I think I am only at claim stage as it says 'cancel claim' and view as my options but it has given me a reference number.

tomister · 05-11-2019 8:17pm

Paul Tergat wrote: »

Thanks. I had tried that and sent them the letter of offer but they didnt really address the issue, hence me then ringing. I think I will just have to make a few calls tomorrow but just really frustrating it doesn't say at the upload stage anything other than the builders contract.

I think I am only at claim stage as it says 'cancel claim' and view as my options but it has given me a reference number.

For you it will remain as “cancel claim” until the builder approves it however revenue can confirm what stage it’s actually at.
You must have been unfortunate with who you were dealing with in Revenue. They were very quick to confirm all was ok last week.
Maybe you only need to upload the building contract as that’s all it asks for. All the mortgage information you fill out during the claim anyway and the builder doesn’t check that

Dylan94 · 06-11-2019 5:45pm

We just applied for the help to buy scheme, we were approved today for €3500. We claimed for 2016, 2017 & 2018. However, during those years we paid €17,000 in income tax between us. We are looking to buy for €400,000ish, so need everything we can get.

Thats just normal income tax at 20%, excluding PRSI, USC etc. I have sent revenue a message through the online service, but they tend to take a long time to get back.

In the meantime, does anyone have any ideas why it might be so much lower?

2017-21 help to buy scheme - megathread. All help to buy discussion here please

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