The Mortgage Allowance Scheme was introduced to assist householders who are tenants or tenant purchasers of local authority houses to become owner-occupiers of other dwellings.
An allowance of up to €11,450 is payable directly to the lending agency over a 5-year period and your repayments are reduced accordingly for the first 5 years of the mortgage. Your mortgage may be from a commercial lending agency or from a local authority.
How to Qualify
You may be eligible if you are:
- a local authority tenant or a tenant purchaser and you want to buy a private house and return your present house to the local authority. However, if you are buying a house under the Shared Ownership Scheme, you are not eligible for the Mortgage Allowance Scheme
- a housing association tenant for more than 1 year in housing provided under the Rental Subsidy Scheme, and you are giving up your tenancy and taking out a mortgage to buy or build a private house
The house must be suitable for your needs, meet certain minimum standards and be acceptable to the local authority. The amount of the mortgage must be at least €38,092.14.
Rates
The allowance is paid directly to the lending agency and your mortgage payments are reduced in each of the first 5 years as follows:
| Year 1 | €3,560 |
| Year 2 | €2,800 |
| Year 3 | €2,040 |
| Year 4 | €1,780 |
| Year 5 | €1,270 |
| Total | €11,450 |
How to Apply
The Local Authority Home Loan Administrator, currently Marie Tynan, is the contact in Laois County Council for the Mortgage Allowance Scheme.
Contact details are as follows:
Tel: (057) 867 4337,
email: housinghomeloan@laoiscoco.ie
Further information on the scheme is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.ie/en/service/b66ea-mortgage-allowance-scheme/#how-to-qualify