Nearly 1,000 people vie to buy the state’s most expensive ‘affordable’ homes – The Irish Times

Nearly 1,000 potential buyers applied for just 51 homes costing up to €495,000 in the state’s most expensive area.affordable purchase» housing program built to date.

Shanganagh Castle, an estate of almost 600 houses near Shankill in south County Dublin, is the Land use planning agencyIt is the first housing development on state-owned land and the largest to date.

Sales of the first phase of houses were announced last month with prices starting at €334,600 for a two-bedroom house.

However, it emerged the cost of the larger three-bedroom homes would rise to €495,000. That’s €20,000 more than the maximum charged for Oscar Traynor Woods homes in Coolock, Dublin 17, Dublin City Council’s affordable buying scheme which attracted criticism for its high prices when it was launched on sale last July.

The high price of housing in Shanganagh means that buyers can have incomes above €111,000 and still benefit from public housing benefits.

For those on the lowest incomes, the state will pay up to €165,000 in subsidy and take up to 30 percent of the home’s equity.

Unlike the State Subsidized Rent Scheme, which imposes an after-tax income cap on eligible tenants of €66,000 in Dublin and €59,000 elsewhere, the Affordable Home Purchase Scheme has no cap of standard income. Instead, income eligibility is tied to the market price of each home.

In Shanganagh, the most expensive three-bedroom house has a market value of €550,000. The minimum equity the council will take is 10 per cent, leaving the buyer with €495,000. The buyer must have a 10 percent deposit and a mortgage worth four times their gross income, which in this case means the buyer’s income could reach €111,375.

To allow people on low incomes to apply, the municipality will invest up to 30 percent in a stake in the house, which under this formula would involve the municipality taking a stake of €165,000, with the buyer paying €385 000 € and with an income of 165,000 €. €86,625. However, to broaden income eligibility, the municipality will allow the buyer to contribute an additional €42,500 outside of the mortgage process. This would allow buyers with a minimum salary of €76,000 to purchase the house.

Similar calculations apply to the small houses in the project. The cheapest two-bed has a market value of €478,000, making it accessible to a buyer with a maximum income of €96,795 for €430,200 or a minimum of €66,000 for €334,600. In the latter scenario, not only would the buyer have to finance a deposit of €33,460 – more than half of their income – but they would also have to find an additional €37,140 to cover the mortgage gap.

Despite the high prices, the council received 974 applications for the first 51 homes, the highest number of applications ever received for an affordable purchase scheme. At Oscar Traynor Woods in Coolock, 260 buyers applied for the first 16 homes.

While Shanganagh’s applications are still being processed, 70 per cent of homes are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with the remaining 30 per cent subject to a lottery.

Of the 597 homes, 91 are being sold under the affordable purchase scheme, with the remaining 40, all apartments, due to go on sale next year.

The bulk of the homes, 306, will be available to tenants eligible for at-cost housing – workers earning up to €66,000. Applications for the first 195 homes to rent, all apartments, will open next month, with the remainder available next year. The remaining 200 apartments will be used for social housing.