Chapter 2 of 10 · Schemes and grants · 3 of 14
First Home Scheme price ceilings by county
Checked 21 Oct 2026the Central Bank's mortgage measures, Revenue's rules and the scheme operators' published terms.
The First Home Scheme maximum price for every local authority, from €375,000 to €500,000, for houses and apartments, checked and dated.
Written in plain English for the person buying, selling or switching. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only.
The First Home Scheme only funds a home priced within a ceiling. The ceiling depends on the local authority where the home is. This page lists every one, for houses and for apartments, as read from the scheme's site on 21 October 2026.
For how the scheme works, read the First Home Scheme guide. Each county page carries its own ceiling alongside the other county figures.
The ceilings for every county
| County | House | Apartment |
|---|---|---|
| Carlow | €375,000 | €375,000 |
| Cavan | €375,000 | €375,000 |
| Clare | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Cork City | €500,000 | €500,000 |
| Cork County | €450,000 | €450,000 |
| Donegal | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Dublin City | €500,000 | €500,000 |
| Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown | €500,000 | €500,000 |
| Fingal | €500,000 | €500,000 |
| South Dublin | €500,000 | €500,000 |
| Galway City | €475,000 | €475,000 |
| Galway County | €450,000 | €450,000 |
| Kerry | €425,000 | €425,000 |
| Kildare | €475,000 | €475,000 |
| Kilkenny | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Laois | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Leitrim | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Limerick | €450,000 | €450,000 |
| Longford | €375,000 | €375,000 |
| Louth | €425,000 | €425,000 |
| Mayo | €425,000 | €425,000 |
| Meath | €475,000 | €475,000 |
| Monaghan | €375,000 | €375,000 |
| Offaly | €375,000 | €375,000 |
| Roscommon | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Sligo | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Tipperary | €375,000 | €375,000 |
| Waterford | €400,000 | €450,000 |
| Westmeath | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Wexford | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Wicklow | €500,000 | €500,000 |
Source: the First Home Scheme's property price ceilings page, read on 21 October 2026. The page shows no effective date. The scheme reviews the ceilings twice a year.
How to read the table
The ceiling is the most you can pay for the home and still use the scheme. It is the full price, not the price after your deposit or after Help to Buy.
In most counties, a house and an apartment have the same ceiling. Waterford is the one county where they differ: €400,000 for a house and €450,000 for an apartment.
Cork and Galway each have two councils with two different ceilings. Cork City is €500,000 and Cork County is €450,000. Galway City is €475,000 and Galway County is €450,000. The ceiling follows the council the home sits in, not the postal address. A home in a suburb of Cork city can be in the county council's area. Check the council on the planning documents or ask your solicitor (check the Law Society's register). A conveyancing solicitor can confirm the local authority from the title.
Dublin has four councils: Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. All four are at €500,000.
The ceilings in bands
Grouped by figure, the ceilings sit in six bands.
| Ceiling | Local authorities |
|---|---|
| €500,000 | Cork City, Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin, Wicklow |
| €475,000 | Galway City, Kildare, Meath |
| €450,000 | Cork County, Galway County, Limerick, Waterford (apartments) |
| €425,000 | Kerry, Louth, Mayo |
| €400,000 | Clare, Donegal, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, Waterford (houses), Westmeath, Wexford |
| €375,000 | Carlow, Cavan, Longford, Monaghan, Offaly, Tipperary |
A worked example at the ceiling
Sinéad and Rob want a new house in Meath priced at €470,000. The Meath ceiling is €475,000, so the home qualifies.
Their joint income is €95,000. A first-time buyer can borrow up to 4 times gross income under the Central Bank's rules. Their limit is €380,000. They have a €47,000 deposit, which is 10% of the price.
| Item | Amount | Share of the price |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €470,000 | 100% |
| Mortgage, 4 times income | €380,000 | 80.9% |
| Deposit | €47,000 | 10% |
| Gap | €43,000 | 9.1% |
The scheme can fund the €43,000 gap and take a 9.1% share. That is well under the 30% cap.
If the same house were priced at €480,000, it would be €5,000 over the Meath ceiling. The scheme would not fund any of it. There is no partial funding above the ceiling.
What the ceiling means for your search
The ceiling sets the top of your search in a county, not your budget. Your budget is set by your mortgage limit, your deposit and the scheme's share, whichever runs out first.
The First Home Scheme calculator takes your county, your income and your deposit and tells you the most you could pay under the scheme. For some people that figure is below the ceiling, because the 30% cap bites first. For others the ceiling is the limit.
Ceilings and prices side by side
The ceilings are set against prices in each area. The CSO's median price across the State was €396,000 in the twelve months to June 2026. The median is the middle price: half of homes sold for more, half for less. The highest county median was Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at €682,334 and the lowest was Longford at €198,000.
New builds, which the scheme covers, tend to sit above the median in most counties. That is why the ceilings in Dublin, Wicklow and the two cities are at the top of the range. None of this is a forecast of where prices go next.
When the ceilings change
The scheme reviews the ceilings twice a year. A review can raise a county's ceiling or leave it alone. The figures on this page are the ones on the scheme's site on 21 October 2026. Before you bid, check the scheme's page, and check the changes page for anything new.
If a ceiling rises after you have applied, ask the scheme whether the new figure applies to your application. If a ceiling falls, the scheme's own rules on applications already approved apply.
Self-builds
On a self-build, the ceiling applies to the value of the finished home, as the lender's valuer assesses it. It does not apply to the cost of the site plus the build. A home that costs €350,000 to build on a site you already own can be valued at more than that when finished. The valuation is the figure that is checked against the ceiling.
The Local Authority Home Loan ceilings are different
The Local Authority Home Loan, the council mortgage, has its own ceilings. They are lower: €415,000 in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, down to €310,000 in most counties. Do not mix the two sets up. The Local Authority Home Loan guide has that table.
Where this leaves you
Find your county in the table, then put your income, deposit and the price into the First Home Scheme calculator to see whether the scheme can close your gap. The first-time buyer journey shows where the scheme fits among the other steps. When a home is in sight, get quotes from a solicitor.
Questions people ask
What is the First Home Scheme price ceiling in Dublin?
€500,000 for a house or an apartment, in all four Dublin councils: Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
What is the First Home Scheme price ceiling in Cork?
€500,000 in Cork City and €450,000 in Cork County. The city and the county have separate councils and separate ceilings.
What happens if the house is over the First Home Scheme ceiling?
The home does not qualify. There is no partial funding above the ceiling. You would need to find a home within the ceiling, or buy without the scheme.
How often do the First Home Scheme ceilings change?
The scheme reviews them twice a year. The figures on this page were read from the scheme's site on 21 October 2026. Check the scheme's own page before you bid.
Is the ceiling the price or the value?
The price you pay. On a self-build it is the value of the finished home as the lender's valuer assesses it.