Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 November 2014
305. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Finance his views regarding the National Asset Management Agency selling 600 apartments to investors when there is a shortage of properties in the market for people who have saved in order to buy their first home; his views on related correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41441/14]
View answerThe strong improvement in conditions in the Irish commercial and residential property markets over the past year created opportunities for NAMA to increase the flow of Irish property assets and loan sales to the market. Earlier this year, NAMA announced that, in line with its obligations under Section 10 of the NAMA Act, it considered that the best financial outcome for the State would be achieved through a managed process of accelerating disposals in an orderly way with the target of redeeming 80% of senior debt (a cumulative €24 billion) by end-2016. Following on from the Section 227 review of NAMA which was conducted by my Department, I fully endorsed NAMA's strategy of seeking to take full advantage of strong market conditions to reduce the contingent liability on taxpayers represented by NAMA's senior, State-guaranteed, bonds.
I am advised by NAMA that, in order to achieve its revised debt redemption targets, it must arrange for the sale not only of individual assets but also of portfolios of loans and property assets to investors. In addition to over 5,000 individual residential units that NAMA debtors and receivers have sold to date, assets will continue to be made available for sale, on an individual basis, to potential purchasers. NAMA's website includes a list of some 2,300 properties in Ireland which are either currently for sale or will shortly be offered for sale through receivers. NAMA's policy of ensuring that the sale of all loans and the sale of properties by debtors and receivers should be openly marketed ensures that the best price available in the market is achieved in all instances.
The Deputy should note that, where NAMA arranges for the sale of portfolios of apartments, these are typically rented to tenants and there is no question of such tenants being placed at any disadvantage as a result of the change of ownership. Indeed, it would not be fair or reasonable to displace tenants in order to offer the apartments for sale to purchasers as either individual units or as part of a portfolio. As the properties are already tenanted, they form part of current housing supply and displacing one category of housing tenure to accommodate another category would not add to overall housing supply. I would also point out that the purchasers of apartment blocks are usually large investors who tend to apply fully professional standards in their capacity as landlords and this is something that I fully welcome given the need, in any properly functioning property market, for a well-managed private rental sector.
