Roscommon Country Council will sell newly built homes at a price lower than the open market value.

The price you pay will be calculated by Roscommon County Council based on your income and mortgage capacity. Roscommon Country Council will contribute towards the difference between the open market value and the price you pay. This contribution will be expressed as a percentage and represents the equity share the local authority will retain in your home.

An affordable home will have a minimum purchase price set by Roscommon County Council. You must be able to show that you have the capacity to pay at least the minimum purchase price by using a combination of a mortgage, savings and Help to Buy (if applicable). The price you pay for your home will be higher If your income and mortgage capacity is higher.

You can redeem or "buy out" the equity share in part or in full at a time of your choosing, but there is no obligation to do so. Certain events will trigger the local authority to request their equity share to be redeemed. These include if you sell your home and are set out in the Affordable Dwelling Purchase Agreement, which you will need to sign. You should discuss this with your solicitor.

The price to be paid for your new home and the percentage equity share will be calculated by Roscommon County Council. The equity share is in addition to your mortgage which can be secured from the main lending institutions or by way of a Local Authority Home Loan.

Information on the Affordable Purchase Scheme is set out in the Affordable Housing Act 2021.

All queries on Affordable Housing can be sent to: affordablehomes@roscommoncoco.ie

The affordable purchase price will be calculated by Roscommon County Council based on the “purchasing power” of eligible applicants. This calculation takes into account applicants maximum mortgage capacity and the minimum price set for the home by the Council.

The purchasing power of applicants will be calculated as the combined total of:

• Maximum mortgage capacity, i.e., 4 times gross household income, plus,
• A minimum deposit of 10% of the affordable purchase price, plus, 
• Relevant savings**.  

**If you have savings above a certain amount, you may not qualify for the scheme. You can have the money to cover the deposit on the home and an additional €30,000. Anything above this is added to your purchasing power. And, if this purchasing power goes above the maximum price set for each home, you are not eligible for the scheme.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they can fund the purchase of an affordable home between the minimum and maximum purchase prices. If an applicant’s purchasing power is below the minimum purchase price, they will need to confirm that they have additional funds such as a gift that will increase their purchasing power to the minimum purchase price.

Applicants with purchasing power assessed as over the maximum purchase price of the affordable units available will be ineligible for the scheme.

You are eligible if you satisfy the following criteria:

1. You are over 18 years of age.
2. You are a First Time Buyer or meet the exceptions under the Fresh Start principle.
3. You have not previously purchased or built a home in the Republic of Ireland for your own occupation. Exceptions apply to Fresh Start Principle applicants.
4. Each person included in the application must have the right to reside in the State.
5. Your home must be your principal place of residence.
6. You must need at least a 5% equity stake from the local authority.
7. You have a minimum deposit of 10% of the purchase price.

It is recommended that applicants have their mortgage approval in principle prior to applying for an affordable home or at least be in a position to apply for a mortgage.

Eligibility calculator is available at the Affordable Homes Website. Click here.

How do I prove my right to reside indefinitely in the State?

For non-EU/EEA applicants:

• Please submit a copy of your Irish Resident Permit (IRP or GNIB Stamp 4) card, indicating which permissions you have.
• Single/joint applications where both applicant(s) are Non-EEA/EU, applicants must have indefinite leave to remain in the State.
• An application from a non-EEA/EU national, who is a spouse or civil partner of the EU /EEA national, may be considered as part of a joint application for that household, provided they have a valid residence card or permanent residence card with a valid Stamp 4EUFam.

UK citizens will be regarded as being legally resides in Ireland. (This accords with the Common Travel Area requirements).

A ‘Fresh Start Principle’ applies in respect of an Affordable Purchase Agreement for an Affordable Housing Scheme.

The following categories of persons may be eligible to apply for an affordable home.

1.  Applicant(s) that previously held a legal interest in a residential property but is divested of this legal interest through any of the following mechanisms may be eligible to apply:

• Legal separation
• Divorce
• Bankruptcy
• Insolvency

Examples of documentary evidence will be:

• Separation agreement
• Court order
• Affidavit from a Solicitor confirming the separation or divorce
• Solicitors letter confirming the applicant has exited insolvency or bankruptcy and that any previously purchased home has been sold or they have fully divested of that home as result of such process.

2. Applicant(s) that previously owned, was/were beneficially entitled to, or have an interest in a dwelling in the state and that this dwelling, because of the size, is not suited to the current accommodation needs of the applicant’s household i.e., house overcrowded, may be eligible to apply.

A Scheme of Priority was approved by the Elected Members of Roscommon County Council on 26th January 2026. 

The purpose of the Scheme of Priority is to outline the rules Roscommon County Council uses to decide which applicants will be offered dwellings. The Scheme of Priority will apply in the event where there are more eligible applicants than affordable homes available.

Should the number of eligible applicants exceed the number of affordable dwellings available on the scheme, priority will be applied on the following basis:

1. Priority will be given to applicants whose accommodation needs would be adequately catered for by the type of dwelling in question

2. A minimum of 30% of the dwellings will be allocated to eligible applicants whose current address as given in the application form is within the Municipal District of the relevant affordable scheme for a minimum period of two (2) years on the date of application.

3. Priority will be given to eligible applicants in the date and time order that their applications were received 

While it is not a requirement, it is recommended that before applying for an affordable home, you have mortgage approval in principle from a mortgage provider confirming the maximum mortgage available to you.

An approval in principle is a letter from a lender indicating the amount of money you are eligible to borrow for a mortgage. Your application cannot be fully processed unless you have mortgage approval in principle.

A minimum deposit of 10% of the purchase price of the property will also be required so applicants should ensure they have sufficient savings before applying. First time buyer applicants can avail of the Help to Buy Scheme. This is operated by the Revenue Commissioners. For more information, please click here.

An individual application will be required for each Affordable Housing scheme; there is no general application form. Applications will only be accepted via our online portal.

Once the application portal opens, you can proceed to complete the online application form. You will be required to submit the supporting documentation through our online portal at the time of application.

In the online application portal, applicants will be required to complete an online application form.

In addition, the below document is a list of supporting documentation that each applicant will be required to provide as part of their application.

This information must be uploaded to the portal as you proceed through the application form. Please ensure that the relevant documents are uploaded to the correct section as requested. This may involve the same document being uploaded under a number of different sections.

Failure to upload all required document to the correct section will result in delays to the application validation

We recommend having all the required documentation for each applicant saved and ready to be uploaded before your start your application.

Affordable Housing Check List

Local Authority Home Loan

Help to buy

Affordable Homes

Glossary of Terms 

All queries on Affordable Housing can be sent to: affordablehomes@roscommoncoco.ie