What is Cost Rental?

This new housing tenure offers a long-term, secure rental option that will contribute to the development of a healthy housing market in Ireland. It is aimed at people who are above the threshold for social housing but have difficulty affording private rented accommodation. It is called ‘cost rental’ because the rent charged is based on the cost of building, managing, and maintaining the homes. This makes the rent cheaper than standard private rents and means it is an affordable housing solution.

Terms and conditions for cost rental housing in Ireland are set out in the Affordable Housing Act 2021.

Am I eligible?

You are eligible for a cost rental home if you meet the following criteria;

Net annual household income is below €66,000 for Dublin, and €59,000 elsewhere in the country.
You are not in receipt of any social housing supports (including Rent Supplement or HAP)
You do not own a property
Your household size is suitable for the size of the property advertised (all members of the household must be living in Ireland at the time of applying)
You can afford to pay the rent for the home
Your household has only entered one application for a cost rental property.

Please note, affordability is a key criterion and is measured as rent being no more than 35% of your net household income. Applicants will be required to submit supporting documentation to evidence affordability. Only one application per household is permitted. Anyone or any household applying multiple times will be disqualified from the lottery.

You must include all members of your household when completing your Expression of Interest. If you do not include all members of your household in your Expression of Interest, you will be deemed ineligible.
Being drawn from the lottery is not an offer of accommodation; you must submit all documentation within 48 hours of request to submit documents and you must meet all criteria before being assessed and considered.

Property Size

You should apply for the size property that is suitable for your needs. Set out below, are the guidelines we will be following:

One-bed

Single adult.
Cohabiting couple.

Two-bed

Two adults.
Cohabiting couple with one or two children under the age of ten.
Cohabiting couple with one or two children over the age of ten of the same sex.
Lone parent with one or two children under the age of ten.
Lone parent with one or two children over the age of ten of the same sex.

Three-bed

Three adults.
Cohabiting couple with three or four children under the age of ten.
Cohabiting couple with three or four children over the age of ten of the same sex.
Cohabiting couple with two children over the age of ten of the opposite sex.
Lone parent with three or four children under the age of ten.
Lone parent with three or four children over the age of ten of the same sex.
Lone parent with two children over the age of ten of the opposite sex.

Four-bed

Four adults.
Cohabiting couple with five or six children under the age of ten.
Cohabiting couple with five or six children over the age of ten of the same sex.
Cohabiting couple with three children over the age of ten of the opposite sex.
Lone parent with five or six children under the age of ten.
Lone parent with five or six children over the age of ten of the same sex.
Lone parent with three children over the age of ten of the opposite sex.

How do I apply?

Register your interest.

You can apply on Circle VHA’s website or via our Daft.ie Advertisement and follow the instructions. This is the only method to apply, registration of interest cannot be made by post or over the phone.

Once you have selected the property that is suitable for your household, enter your details into our self-service eligibility checker, and register your interest.

Applicants are entered into a lottery and selected at random.

If you are drawn in the lottery, you will receive an email requesting you to upload your supporting documents as evidence that you are eligible for Cost Rental Housing. Affordability is a key criterion and is measured as rent being no more than 35% of your net household income. Applicants will have 48 hours to upload all necessary documents.

We will begin reviewing applications from the top of the lottery list and those who have submitted all documents will be prioritised. We will be in contact with you once we have reviewed your documents to confirm eligibility. If you have not submitted your documents within 48 hours your application will be deemed unsuccessful, and we will proceed to the next person drawn from the lottery.

Register your interest.

Applicants are entered into a lottery and selected at random.

Our Cost Rental Schemes

Closed for applications

Lanestown View, Donabate

Lanestown View is a brand-new development, built by Cairn, with mixed tenure properties that are finished to the highest standard. Circle VHA is offering a total of 29 homes, consisting of one- and two-bed apartments, two bed houses and two and three bed duplexes.

Find out more here

Image of the back garden of a Mills house.

Closed for applications

The Mills, Castletroy, Limerick

The Mills, Castletroy, Limerick is a brand-new development built by Cairn which will consist of 34 beautiful, ‘A rated’ terraced and semi-detached houses, in phase 1 and 2.

The Mills, offers generously sized three bed homes with onsite parking. Residents will benefit from a strong, distinctive urban basis and a pedestrian friendly public realm within the development.

Find out more here

Frequently asked questions

Net household income is calculated by adding together the net income for each household member aged 18 years and over. Net income means that income tax, universal social charge, PRSI and superannuation are deducted from the relevant gross assessable income. Click here for an explanation of payslip terms. Income that is assessable for the purposes of assessing eligibility for cost rental housing includes:

Income from employment, including self-employment
Overtime, bonuses, and commissions which will be assessed as follows; overtime – generally restricted to a maximum of 10% of basic income, but regular overtime may be taken into account; bonus – restricted to a maximum of 10% of basic income; commission – restricted to a maximum of 30% of basic income, where applicable.
Maintenance payments received
Income from dividends, capital investments and other similar sources of income
Occupational and social welfare pensions, from whatever source, including from abroad
All income from social insurance and social assistance payments, allowances, and benefits, including from Family Income Supplement (FIS)

Income from the following sources shall, in all cases, be disregarded for the purposes of assessing income:

Child benefit or guardian’s payment
Exceptional or urgent needs payments
Carer’s allowance
Scholarships or higher education grants
Foster care payments
Domiciliary care allowance
Allowances/assistance from charities
Fuel allowance
Mobility allowance
Living alone allowance
Rent or mortgage interest supplement
Payments under FÁS schemes.

Proof of ID for each household member

Current Valid Signed Passport/Current Valid Passport Card
Valid Travel Document/Current Valid EU/EEA Driving Licence– must contain photograph (Irish Provisional accepted)
Current EU National Identity Card
Birth Cert for children

Proof of address

Utility Bill eg Home telephone, gas, electricity, heating, oil, waste collection (where a utility bill is a first bill, a second form of address verification is required)
Correspondence from a Regulated Financial Institution operating in the Republic of Ireland (Insurance/ Assurance Company, Bank, Building Society, Credit Union, Credit Card Company)
Correspondence from a Government Department / Body

Proof of residency

Current Tenancy agreement
An employment letter from your current employer dated within the previous 6 weeks
Statement of Payments/Benefits from Dept. of Social Protection
Employment Details Summary (Formerly P60)

Proof of income for each household member if employed

Employment Details Summary (Formerly P60) and/or
last three months’ payslips and/or
Statement of Liability (Formerly P21)

Proof of Income if self employed

Minimum of 1 year’s bank accounts, along with an up-to-date tax balancing statement and preliminary tax receipt

Social Welfare Income

Documentary evidence of all social insurance and social assistance payments, allowances and pensions being received by members of the household aged 18 and older.

Employer reference

Dated within the previous 6 weeks
This letter should confirm your salary, address and start date and if you are an employee

Landlord reference

This should contain a contact phone number and email of the Landlord. It should be dated within the previous 6 weeks It should also state the duration of the tenancy (start and end date) and the current rent paid.
If coming from family home, letter from the homeowner/ parents

Bank Statements

For the previous 6 months if employed or
1 year if self employed
Please highlight on the bank statement where the last three month’s rental payments have been made.

All cost rental rents are a minimum 25% below the market rents in the area where the scheme is located.

The deposits for each unit type will be one month’s rent less 50 euro.

The Cost Rental properties are unfurnished to allow tenants to furnish them according to their own taste. However, the following items are included;

White goods (fridge-freezer, dishwasher, oven & hob, microwave, washer-dryer)
Roller blinds, with blackout blinds in bedrooms.
Flooring in all rooms
Splashback in kitchen and all wet rooms
Tiling to shower area

Please note – All utilities (electricity, internet, telephone, cable TV etc.) will need to be set up by the tenant.

The tenancy is of unlimited duration. This means that provided there are no issues with breach of tenancy or rent arrears within the first six months you will have a long-term rental option that offers security of tenure. Your tenancy will only be terminated if you breach your tenancy agreement or fail to pay the rent.

Applications are assessed at point of entry. If for example, after you’ve been allocated a property your net household income increased above €66,000 for Dublin, and €59,000 elsewhere in the country, you would still be entitled to continue renting the property. If your income decreases below the affordable threshold after a six-month period, you may be eligible for assistance, this is a matter for the tenant to make an application to the Local Authority.

Affordability is based on the rent being no more than 35% of your net household income, and is one of the core eligibility criteria for the cost rental scheme. Applicants drawn in the lottery will be asked to submit supporting documents as evidence of their net household Income. Applicants who are unable to provide evidence of their net household income will be deemed unsuccessful.

The Cost Rental Housing lottery is run on an independent external platform with full audit trail for transparency, and independently adjudicated by the Housing Agency. The lottery will be run once the advertising of the properties has ceased. The lottery will create at random a list of all applicants and we will approach applicants from the top of the list.

If your name has been drawn in the lottery, you will be asked to submit the relevant supporting documentation. You will have 48 hours to complete this. Once we have verified your eligibility for the home, we will contact you within 10 working days.

Yes, we will notify all unsuccessful applicants within 30 working days.

Authorisation to keep a pet is at the discretion of Circle VHA and will depend on the suitability of the property, pet, and any House Rules currently in place. A tenant can apply to keep a pet by completing a pet application form which will be assessed by Circle VHA. We will not allow any dogs which are a restricted breed or a cross breed of a restricted breed. Any approval may be rescinded if the pet is deemed to be causing a nuisance to others living in the vicinity.

Yes, there will. Keep an eye on the Circle VHA website for further details of future releases.