Home Buyers Guide

Chapter 7: Help, I can't afford to buy a home - what are my options?

Option 2: Rent A Room Scheme:

Are you planning on buying a property with more than one bedroom?

If you are, the Government's 'Rent a Room Scheme' could be answer to your problems.

Under the scheme, you are allowed to rent out spare bedrooms in your home, to tenants and earn rental income
of up to €10,000 per year, without having to pay any income tax on the rent you receive.

And because your new roommates will be paying you rent (and in the process helping you pay the mortgage), some lenders will offer you a bigger mortgage as a result.

Check out Daft.ie to see how much a room would rent for in a similar home in the area, and mention the rental you’d expect to get in your mortgage application.

The banks will usually limit the amount of rental income they’ll take into account, but it should increase what you can borrow.

For obvious reasons, the lenders will not increase what you can borrow if you are buying a studio or 1 bedroom
apartment, because you'd have no spare rooms to rent out.

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