A Kerry County Councillor is reiterating his call for the Help to Buy scheme to be extended to cover second-hand properties.
Independent councillor Jackie Healy-Rae brought a motion on the issue before the monthly meeting of Kerry County Council.
The Help to Buy scheme is an incentive for first-time property purchasers that helps them with the deposit needed to purchase or self-build a new house or apartment that will be their primary residence.
Applicants who meet the required conditions can claim up to €30,000 through the scheme.
Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae is reiterating his call for the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe to extend the Help to Buy Scheme to cover second-hand properties.
He says it’s a very good scheme but there are very few new builds in Kerry; he says there are currently 800 properties for sale in the county and just three of these schemes are new properties.
Cllr Healy-Rae says a first-time buyer is a first-time buyer, adding they shouldn’t have to be buying a new property to avail of this scheme.
The Independent councillor says there are plenty of second-hand properties out there that would be cheaper for couples and that might just need a small bit of work.
He also says by including second-hand properties, it might bring some of the county's vacant stock back into use.
He called on Kerry County Council to write to the Minister for Finance to ask that the scheme be extended.
