Just five people have drawn down funding from the First Home Scheme in Kerry since it began.
The scheme is a joint-venture between the state and three banks, AIB, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB, to try and help people own their first home.
The First Home Scheme is a fund to help people bridge the gap between their mortgage, deposit, and the price of a new home.
It was launched in 2022, and is available to people with new-builds in private development and self-builds.
It can also assist tenants being evicted from a rental property which is being put on the market, to buy the property themselves.
The First Homes Scheme has published its latest progress update, covering up to the end of September this year.
Nationally, almost 8,400 buyers have been approved under the scheme, with over 4,100 homes bought or built up to the end of last month.
Most of this activity is in Dublin, Kildare, Cork, Meath and Wicklow, which make up 72% of all approvals.
In Kerry, just 13 applications for the First Home Scheme have been approved since the beginning of the scheme.
Eight of these are for new-builds, four are self-builds, and one is a tenant purchase.
Of these 13 applicants, just five have drawn down funding; four for new-builds, and one tenant purchase.
One of the reasons it’s believed the figures in Kerry are so low, is because the scheme is heavily linked to the level of new, private homes being constructed.
The low level of private housing developments being completed in Kerry over the last 20 years has been highlighted on several occasions.
