Sinn Féin has said the ‘fundamentally’ flawed Help to Buy and Shared Equity Loan Schemes should be scrapped immediately.

This morning, the party's spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin told Newstalk Breakfast that the “so-called” Help to Buy Scheme costs the Exchequer €700 million and has two “fundamental” problems. 

“It does contribute to house price inflation,” he said. “That's not just my view - it's a view of most economists, housing policy analysts [and] indeed two independent reports in 2017 and 2021.” 

Deputy Ó Broin said a report from the Oireachtas Budgetary Service found a third of people who use the Help to Buy Scheme “didn’t actually need it”.  

“That means about €250 million of the total expenditure has gone to people who didn't need that support,” he said. 

Extra debt 

Deputy Ó Broin said the Shared Equity Loan Scheme is “worse” as it adds an extra layer of ‘low interest debt’ to your mortgage – which he said will leave people in more debt than before. 

“While you don't have to pay that down like a mortgage until after six years, you could spend 25 to 30 years paying off a full mortgage and still owe €100,000 to the State for the shared equity loan,” he said.  

Deputy Ó Broin said the schemes do not “treat the real problem, which is house prices”. 

“The direct consequences of the so-called Help to Buy is that a whole bunch of people who would have otherwise been able to buy at lower prices are now priced out of the market,” he said.  

“If you keep chasing ever increasing developer-led costs, you're going to make it even more difficult.” 

Entering the property ladder

Fine Gael Spokesperson for Housing in the Seanad John Cummins said the Help to Buy Scheme has put 38,500 people on the housing ladder since its introduction. 

“If it wasn’t for the Help to Buy Scheme, where would they be?” Senator Cummins said. “They'd be in high rental accommodation.” 

Senator Cummins said the scheme offers grants that help individuals and families save money as they enter the property ladder.  

He said Sinn Féin’s proposal would “take the rug out from under” regular people such as those in his constituency who have used the Help to Buy Scheme.  

Home ownership

Senator Cummins said Sinn Féin has no alternative proposal to the Scheme and acussed the party of failing to consider banking requirements. 

“You can talk about what you put in place in three years' time, but the Central Bank rules and the 10% deposit will be in place whether Eoin is Minister for Housing or whether anyone else is the Minister for Housing,” he said.  

“You have to support people to get their deposit together.”  

Senator Cummins said the housing delivery is currently on a “positive trajectory” - so the Government needs to have schemes that support homeownership.