At least 5,500 applied for the first-time buyers' grant before it was removed but have yet still to receive the payment, writes Laura Slattery.

The Department of the Environment is looking at extending the deadline for eligibility for the first-time buyers' grant.

The grant was abolished last year but people who applied ahead of the dealdine were given until November 13th this year to complete their building and paperwork.

At least 5,500 people who applied for the first-time buyers' grant before it was removed have still to receive the payment, which is worth €3,810.

The Department of the Environment and Local Government has paid out 8,353 grants this year to the end of September, it has confirmed.

However, a massive 25,349 applications for the grant were made during 2002.

Some of these would have been paid out during 2002, but they include 13,487 applications received between November 14th, the date the abolition was announced, and December 4th, the final day first-time buyers of new houses could apply for the grant.

A spokeswoman for the Department described the figure as "quite substantial", saying it exceeded the total applications received during 2001.

People who signed a contract to purchase or build a new house or had poured the foundations for a house they were building themselves before November 14th, 2002, and who applied for the grant before Budget day, December 4th, 2002, are eligible for the grant.

All applicants' cases are being processed but, under the terms of the scheme, the new property must be complete and occupied before the Department will pay out the grant.

Online mortgage intermediary, Primafinance.ie, warns homebuyers who submitted their application in time but still have not made their final claim to get the necessary paperwork together now so they do not lose out on the benefit.

Under the existing rules, people awarded provisional approval for the grant before it was abolished but who have not yet received it must make their request for payment to the Department on or before November 13th.

Mr Tice O'Sullivan, financial adviser at Primafinance.ie, said people building their own houses who were nearing the end of the process would be rushing to complete the project and occupy the properties by November 13th in order to receive the grant.

These applicants may be afforded some breathing space if the Department of the Environment decides to extend the deadline in certain circumstances. The spokeswoman said the Department was considering this at the moment, but had yet to draft any regulations.

She added that the Department could not predict the total number of grants that would be paid, as there were some people who had received provisional approval conditional on the completion and occupation of their house and others who had yet to reply to queries made by the Department in relation to their application.

The spokeswoman said it was not clear if all of these applications would prove valid.

The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, indicated recently that "common sense will prevail" on the payment of the grant.

"Where, through no fault of the first-time buyer, there is an unavoidable delay with the completion of a house and where the applicant has met all conditions, the Department will ensure the grant is paid," he said.

The November 13th deadline was adopted to achieve closure for the scheme and to prevent speculative applications on houses that may not actually be built for years.

But the Minister said he was aware that some grant applicants were having genuine difficulties in meeting the deadline for completing and occupying their new house.