Property Industry Ireland has called for a limited extension to be made to the mortgage interest relief scheme for first time buyers and those trading up.
Their call comes just days after Minister for Finance Michael Noonan insisted that the scheme, which was implemented in last year’s Budget, would be ending on December 31st.
Despite the Minister’s stance, the group – which represents various sectors of the property industry – said the government should reconsider in order to support what it said was the beginnings of a recovery in the property market.
Couples buying a €200,000 home for the first time could be entitled to tax relief of more than €2,000 next year alone and that sort of incentive has been largely attributed to a rise in transactions in recent months.
Finola McDonnell of PII said: “While the relief cannot be extended indefinitely, the industry believes that a limited extension of the scheme to the end of 2013, perhaps at a reduced level of benefit, would help bring the market to a more sustainable position.”
