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House buyers have just 2 weeks for TRS

Thursday, October 18 16:39:28

The end of this month is the effective deadline for potential home buyers who want to benefit from TRS - Tax Relief at Source, according to MyHome.ie today.

The property site is calling for an extension of mortgage interest relief measures because it says that prospective buyers are largely unaware of the effective deadline - "and because we think the relief is a help to prospective buyers and the currently depressed market".

It said that it understands that the main lending banks are saying that first time buyers who wish to avail of the current mortgage interest relief scheme should have their applications submitted by Oct 31st.

MyHome believes that it could be worth in the region of E20K to a couple buying first property depending on mortgage etc.

Meanwhile, its latest survey found that almost two thirds of first time buyers intend to buy a property in the next 12 months - an increase of 13pc since February.

But over a quarter of them (27pc) say they will buy in the next three months in order to take advantage of the increased mortgage interest relief measures which are available to buyers up to the end of the year.

Angela Keegan, Managing Director of MyHome.ie described the findings as encouraging and said it underlined the importance of the mortgage interest relief measures.

"We are seeing more transactions now and that is a positive as the market starts to recover. However we don't want to see a situation where people feel rushed into buying a property. Eighty eight per cent of respondents to this survey believe the mortgage interest relief measure should be extended and we would support that call and urge the Government to support hard pressed consumers and extend it for another year."

"The other key issue is access to finance. Our survey shows 75pc of first time buyers have a deposit and want to buy a property, but almost 60pc of respondents believe financial institutions are not lending at present, so access to finance continues to be a major issue, as does uncertainty over the forthcoming property tax," Keegan said.

The survey also asked existing homeowners and first time buyers how the property tax would impact their decision on whether to buy or not. Forty two per cent of first time buyers said they would wait for a while to see what it entails while 38pc said it would make no difference. Almost 20pc said they didn't know.

Thirty six per cent of existing homeowners said they would wait and see, while 43pc said it would make no difference, and 18pc said they didn't know. Implementing the tax on the basis of affordability was the most popular option for both groups.

The survey also underlined the impact of the publication of actual selling prices on the Property Price Register with 90pc of existing homeowners and 84pc of first time buyers saying it will make a difference to the market.

However a fifth of existing homeowners said they would have concerns about the price of their house being known.