First Time Buyers no longer need 20% deposit

[Amber76]

Why would they make it easier for people to buy houses at a time when there is such limited supply?? Isn't this going to just push prices up higher????

Might give some of us a chance to get on the property ladder though. My rent (€1600) is higher than most of my friends mortgages so we struggle to save more than a token amount each month.

I think the banks should take a proven ability to pay rent over a period of time into account when assessing a mortgage. Making a mortgage bigger for those with a solid record of saving and paying rent. This would help FTBs and those renting to get on the ladder.

Cutting the deposit required is such a blunt tool - i think it will have a direct knock on effect on prices, thus rendering it fairly useless.

Is it possible that Ireland could repeat the same madness again? Ridiculous overpriced housing and bidding wars because there are so few houses available to buy?

Your first idea is a fantastic one. Renting is a viscous cycle.

And your second point is valid too, after I commented I went away and read some of the news related to this. I left Ireland in 2006 and only moved home this year so missed the hardest years of recession. I have to wonder who lives/wants to live in the thousands upon thousands of apartments around Dublin? Is that where developers see money?