The Central Bank has announced a major change to its mortgage deposit rules for first time buyers.
It's confirmed that the rule requiring first-time buyers to have a deposit of 20%, on properties above a certain value, will be scrapped.
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It means that a first-time buyer will now only require a deposit worth 10% of the entire value of a property, regardless of its price.
However the 20% deposit rule will continue to apply to second-time and subsequent buyers.
The Central Bank is also relaxing the rules which limit the amount that first-time buyers can borrow, relative to their income.
The changes cast doubt over Michael Noonan's plans for a help-to-buy scheme, which were intended to help first-time buyers overcome the onerous rules on deposits.
