Renting versus buying in Ireland
Irish stamp duty is 1% up to €1,000,000, 2% from there to €1.5m and 6% above, at the rates in force since 2 October 2024 and unchanged in Budget 2026. On a €360,000 home that is €3,600, which is among the lowest entry taxes in western Europe, a fifth of what the same purchase would pay in France or Germany.
There is no first-time buyer exemption. England and Northern Ireland remove stamp duty entirely below £300,000 for a first purchase and the Netherlands does the same up to €555,000; Ireland charges everyone the same scale. If you have been reading British advice about a first purchase, this is the point where it stops applying.
Buying ten or more houses in a year triggers a 15% rate instead of the residential scale. That is aimed at bulk investors, not at anyone using this page, but it is why the residential rates are described as applying to an individual.
There is no mortgage insurance either. What constrains an Irish buyer is the Central Bank's lending limit of four times income for a first-time buyer, a cap on whether you can buy at all rather than a cost added when you do. The 10% deposit default reflects the accompanying loan-to-value limit.
Local property tax is a banded charge on self-assessed value, and about 0.09% of the purchase price is a typical outcome, one of the lightest recurring property taxes here.