Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 April 2016
73. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Finance the number of residential units the National Asset Management Agency owns, controls, or has an interest in, directly or indirectly, and the number of such residential units that have been sold on to investment funds and to real estate investment trusts since the agency was established. [6303/16]
View answerNAMA does not own or sell properties. NAMA has acquired loans. The properties that secure these loans are owned by NAMA debtors and NAMA's legal relationship to those properties is similar to a bank which holds security over a person's house that has a mortgage. NAMA, unlike other lenders, generally has no residential mortgages, owner-occupier or buy-to-let, in its portfolio except in a very small number of cases where it holds debtor principal private residences as security for loans.
NAMA requires that the sale of properties by debtors and receivers be openly marketed to ensure that the best available price in the market at the time of the sale is achieved. In its capacity as a secured lender, NAMA has approved the sale by debtors and receivers of 12,781 residential property units since inception. 88% (11,219 of the 12,781 units) were sold on the open market by NAMA debtors and receivers in individual sales transactions to individual house buyers.
The remaining units, 1,562 units, (12% of the total) were sold on the open market by NAMA debtors and receivers as part of larger group or portfolio sales. The properties that were sold in groups or portfolios were typically already tenanted and vacant possession was not sought prior to the sale. Such portfolios are, as a consequence, generally acquired by investors seeking long-term rental streams, rather than seeking to sell the properties in the short-term, and therefore existing tenancy arrangements tend not to be impacted by such sales.
I am advised by NAMA that there are approximately 6,700 residential properties currently within the NAMA portfolio. Just over 6,000 of these units are currently occupied by tenants. The remaining 700 units are actively on the market for sale by their debtors and receivers.
It should also be noted that, in addition to repaying its debt, NAMA generally uses the proceeds of sales to fund the construction of new homes on a commercial basis. This is in accordance with NAMA's Section 10 obligation to seek to protect or enhance the value of its acquired assets and NAMA's sales, in this way, contribute to an increase, not a reduction, in market supply. New supply funded by NAMA is typically sold on the open market in individual lots to individual house buyers.
