Home & Property Tools Ireland

Housing is where the largest sums in an Irish household get decided, usually under time pressure and usually with the information supplied by whoever is selling. Almost every one of these decisions has a published rule behind it — a Central Bank lending limit, a Rent Pressure Zone cap, a stamp duty band, a planning exemption — and knowing the rule is most of the advantage.

If you are buying

Start with what you can actually borrow. The affordability calculator applies the Central Bank’s loan-to-income and loan-to-value limits and tells you which is holding you back, because that decides whether saving more deposit will help. Then check the costs on top — stamp duty, solicitor, survey, valuation, registration — none of which can be added to the mortgage. If it is a new build, Help-To-Buy can supply a large part of the deposit.

If you are not sure whether to buy at all

The buy vs rent comparison costs both paths over the years you plan to stay, including the deposit’s opportunity cost and the maintenance that owners pay and renters do not. How long you stay decides it more than anything else: under about five years the upfront costs of buying rarely get recovered.

If you are renting

Two things are worth doing this month regardless of the long-term plan. Check that any proposed increase is inside the legal cap — in a Rent Pressure Zone both the amount and the timing are restricted — and claim the rent tax credit, which can be backdated.

If you are improving what you have

The renovation cost estimator builds a budget from benchmark ranges for Irish jobs, including professional fees and the contingency that renovation budgets fail without. Once a quote arrives, the quote checker compares it against the same ranges and checks it for the eight things a domestic building quote should contain. Check whether the work needs planning permission before committing to anything — many extensions, attic conversions and garden rooms are exempted development within limits.