A young family in Co Kildare have been locked out of a State-funded affordable housing scheme for a second time this year because of a cap on their State-backed mortgage.
Sandra Rowe says she is “angry, upset and frightened” for her future after learning she is not eligible to purchase a house in the second affordable housing scheme launched in Naas by Kildare County Council this year.
Homes in the Barrackfield West development, built by the Land Development Agency (LDA), start at €243,477 for a one-bedroom apartment, with three-bedroom homes priced at €365,216.
Ms Rowe and her husband Joe have two children, Josh (9) and Ruby (12), meaning they need a three-bed home.
RM Block
They have approval for a local authority home loan, a State-backed scheme that is available for people who are unable to obtain sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build.
There is, however, a cap of €360,000 on the value of a home that can be bought in Co Kildare.
This is €5,000 less than the price of the three-bed homes at Barracksfield West, and the couple cannot use their own savings to bridge the gap.
The same thing happened to the family when they applied for another affordable housing scheme that went on sale in May at Lattin Place, on the Rathasker Road in Naas.
Those houses went on sale with prices ranging from €295,000 for a two-bed house, €365,000 for a mid-terrace three-bed house and €370,000 for an end-terrace three-bed property.
After the issue was raised in The Irish Times in May, Minister for Housing James Browne said he had asked for a review of the loan caps to be carried out and that he would be “making a decision on those very rapidly”.
When asked again about this review on Sunday, an official for the Department of Housing said an “initial review of income limits and property price limits has been compiled and is under consideration by Minister Browne. Any changes likely to come from this review should be implemented in H1 [the first half of] 2026”.
While the department considers what changes might be made, Ms Rowe and her family are facing the same dilemma as before.
“I’m angry, I’m upset, I’m frightened. Every emotion has gone through me since the prices came out,” Ms Rowe told The Irish Times.
“I’m not asking for them to drop the price [of the homes]... This is my last and probably final chance, and I am pleading with Minister Browne to just higher the threshold.
“I have been informed by members of the council there’s nothing they can do unless Minister Browne highers the threshold. Their hands are tied,” Ms Rowe said.
Since May, the family have been looking for a home on the private market but cannot find anything within the €360,000 price range.
“We are actually excluded from buying houses in the private sector as well, because there is nothing out there for €360,000 for a three-bedroom house. If you look at every auctioneer page, they’re starting at maybe €330,000 or €340,000, but by the time you ring them to go view the house, it’s gone up to €360,000, €370,000 or €380,000 already.
“So that threshold is not working in the private sector or in the local authority sector,” Ms Rowe said.
Local Independent councillor Bill Clear said he was aware of at least three families in the area in the same predicament.
Mr Clear said he had written to the Minister twice requesting the limit on the local authority home loan be increased, but had not received a reply on either occasion.
“It’s very annoying, it’s very frustrating. Nobody seems to be talking to anybody in the whole raft of housing, and this is just another abject failure that’s going to affect people’s lives very seriously and adversely,” Mr Clear said.
Kildare County Council was contacted for comment.
