Mortgage Interest Supplement provides short-term support to help you pay your mortgage interest repayments. Your interest is assessed as your gross monthly interest less mortgage interest relief and any mortgage allowance or mortgage subsidy payable towards the interest part of your mortgage by the local authority.
You will only get assistance with the interest portion of your mortgage repayments. You will not get help with the portion that pays off the actual loan and house insurance. You should contact your lender to discuss repaying the actual loan. Our document on mortgage debt describes what you can do if you are faced with arrears on your mortgage.
If you have a consolidated loan, only the interest portion of your loan that relates to the essential purchase, repair or maintenance of your home will be taken into account.
It was announced in Budget 2012 that the minimum contribution towards Mortgage Interest Supplement will increase.
The minimum contribution for the purposes of the Mortgage Interest Supplement scheme increased by €6 to €30 per week for a single person from 1 January 2012. The minimum contribution payable by couples is €35 per week.
People getting Mortgage Interest Supplement may qualify for a waiver from the €100 Household Charge. To be eligible for the waiver you must be getting MIS on the liability date, which is 1 January each year.
Payment of Mortgage Interest Supplement will be deferred for 12 months while the person engages with the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process under the Central Bank’s Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears. This approach is consistent with the reports of the Mortgage Arrears and Personal Debt Group and the Inter-Departmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears. This provision is not yet in force.
To get Mortgage Interest Supplement you must meet the following conditions:
You won’t qualify for Mortgage Interest Supplement if:
You will not qualify for Mortgage Interest Supplement if you are in full-time employment. That is, employment for 30 hours per week or more. (In the case of couples, if one of a couple is in full time employment, both are excluded from claiming Mortgage Interest Supplement). However, there are special retention arrangements that may allow you to keep a proportion of your Mortgage Interest Supplement.
For example, if you are participating in a Community Employment Scheme or getting a Back to Work Allowance or Back to Work Enterprise Allowance. Your gross household income must not exceed €317.43 per week.
Back to Work Allowance, Back to Work Enterprise Allowance, Family Income Supplement (FIS), PRSI, reasonable travel expenses and any childcare allowance payable on certain FÁS training courses is not taken into account in the assessment of your gross household income.
Under these special retention arrangements you will continue to get 75% of your Mortgage Interest Supplement rate during your first year in employment, 50% in the second year and 25% in the third and fourth year. After the fourth year you will no longer be entitled to Mortgage Interest Supplement if you are in employment.
These retention arrangements also apply to people who have been unemployed for 12 months or more and who return to full-time employment and sign off their social welfare payment. In these cases gross household income must not exceed €317.43 per week.
You won’t qualify for Mortgage Interest Supplement if you are attending full-time education. However, if you are getting Mortgage Interest Supplement and qualify for the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA), you will keep an entitlement to Mortgage Interest Supplement. You will be means-tested and if you changed from a reduced social welfare payment to the standard BTEA rate it will affect the amount of supplement you get.
When you apply for Mortgage Interest Supplement your means will be assessed. This will show how much of the mortgage interest you are able to pay. A means test examines all your sources of income. However, some income is not taken into account in the calculation of your means. You may qualify for Mortgage Interest Supplement if your income is below a certain amount and you meet the other conditions - see 'Rules' above.
The capital value of property (except your own home), savings and investments are assessed on a weekly basis as follows:
| Capital | Weekly means assessed as |
| First €5,000 | Nil |
| Next €10,000 | €1 per €1,000 |
| Next €25,000 | €2 per €1,000 |
| Any capital over €40,000 | €4 per €1,000 |
Redundancy payments
A redundancy or lump sum payment will be assessed as capital, unless it has been used to reduce the balance of your mortgage or other outstanding loans.
When calculating your Mortgage Interest Supplement,the following income is not taken into account:
*Additional household income is income from part-time employment or part-time self-employment, Family Income Supplement, Community Employment (CE), Back to Work Allowance, Back to Enterprise Allowance or FÁS course. Maintenance is also assessed as additional household income (see below).
Maintenance is assessed as additional household income (see above) and maintenance payments up to €95.23 per week are assessed in full. The household income disregard (see above) applies to maintenance payments above this amount. For example, if your only additional household income is maintenance, all of your maintenance payment up to €95.23 per week is assessed in full. The household income disregard of €75 applies to sums above this, so that any maintenance between €95.23 and €170.23 is not taken into account. 25% of all maintenance over €170.23 is also not taken into account.
You must pay at least €30 towards your mortgage interest. You may pay more than €30 because you must also contribute any means you have towards your mortgage interest. If you are one of a couple and are claiming Mortgage Interest Supplement you must pay at least €35 towards your mortgage interest.
Calculating your Mortgage Interest Supplement can be difficult. The Department of Social Protection's representative (formerly known as the Community Welfare Officer) in your local health centre decides whether you are eligible for Mortgage Interest Supplement and calculates the amount you get.
The Department's representative adds together any income taken into account in the means test for Mortgage Interest Supplement. They then subtract any income not taken into account. Your remaining income and Household Contribution are added together to find your contribution to your mortgage interest - see 'Means test' above. Find out more about Calculating Mortgage Interest Supplement.
The Mortgage Interest Supplement payable to you is the difference between your actual mortgage interest and your contribution to mortgage interest, as long as the difference between the two is a reasonable amount to meet your residential needs. The maximum rent limits set out for Rent Supplement may be used as a guide to decide what a reasonable amount is.
Generally the Department's representative will ensure that your income after paying the interest on your mortgage does not fall below a minimum level. This level is the Supplementary Welfare Allowance minus €30 (€35 for couples).
To apply, fill in an application form for Mortgage Interest Supplement (pdf). Part of the form will need to be filled in by your lending agency. You will also need to fill in a separate Supplementary Welfare Allowance application form (pdf). This form is used to gather extra details relevant to your application.The Department of Social Protection's representative (formerly known as the Community Welfare Officer) or your local Citizens Information Service can help you fill in these forms.
The type of documents you need to bring include:
You can get a complete list of the documents you may need when applying for Mortgage Interest Supplement. The Department's representative will usually visit you to confirm your circumstances.
If you are not satisfied with a decision made in relation to Mortgage Interest Supplement, first find out why the decision was made by asking the Department of Social Protection's representative (formerly known as the Community Welfare Officer), who will give you the reasons in writing. You should provide any extra documentation to back up your case.
If the decision is not changed, ask for an appeal form. Put in as much detail as possible and keep photocopies of everything. If your appeal is not successful, you are entitled to have the appeal referred to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. You can ask for a face-to-face hearing and you can bring along a representative to help you argue your case.
To apply for Mortgage Interest Supplement contact the Department of Social Protection's representative (formerly known as the Community Welfare Officer) at your local health centre.
The new income disregards came into effect on 5 June 2007. Claims made before 5 June 2007 were assessed using the old income disregards (see below).
All existing Mortgage Interest Supplement claims in payment on 5 June 2007
will be reviewed and assessed using both the current income diregards and the
old income disregards. If you would get more Mortgage Interest Supplement using
the old income disregards, you will continue to be assessed using the old rules
until a change in circumstances triggers a review. A change in circumstances
would include, for example a change in household income or a break in your
claim for more than 13 weeks.
Income from the following sources was not taken into account in the assessment of Mortgage Interest Supplement claims made before 5 June 2007: