The government does not plan to extend mortgage interest relief introduced in last year’s budget for new home buyers this year.

The government provided 25 per cent mortgage interest relief for first-time buyers and 15 per cent relief for non-first time buyers for purchases in 2012.

“I want to emphasise that this mortgage interest relief measure will come to an end at the end of this year,” Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said in a speech to a property think tank.

“There will be no extension to this measure and prospective purchasers should make sure to factor in the time required between purchase and mortgage drawdown in order to qualify for mortgage interest relief,” he said.