Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 February 2024
95. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he now accepts the need for an outright ban on vulture funds purchasing large numbers of new homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7011/24]
View answerThe Government has implemented several measures to ensure a balanced housing market across all tenures, including home ownership, social housing, and private rental.
Under Housing for All, the Government committed to an 'owner-occupier' guarantee, allowing local authorities to designate a percentage of houses and duplexes in a development for owner-occupiers.
In May 2021, measures were introduced to discourage and prohibit the bulk buying of properties. These included a 10% stamp duty levy on the cumulative purchase of 10 or more residential properties, excluding apartments, within a year. This was aimed at deterring institutional investors from bulk purchasing homes.
Simultaneously, the Section 28 Guidelines for Planning Authorities were introduced, effectively providing an 'owner-occupier' guarantee. This ensured new houses and duplex units in housing developments could not be bulk-purchased by institutional investors in a way that would displace individual buyers or social and affordable housing.
The guidelines stipulate that a condition should be included in new planning permissions requiring all houses and duplex units to be available for sale and first occupation by separate, individual households for a certain period after completion.
The Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Act 2021 introduced complementary measures, mandating local authorities to ensure home ownership is provided for and estimated in their housing strategies. The Act reinforces the principle of home ownership as a specific tenure type in a local authority housing strategy, particularly for developments of houses and duplexes.
Between May 2021 and December 2023, planning permission was granted for approximately 39,900 homes with conditions prohibiting bulk purchase by, or multiple sale to, a single purchaser.
Despite suggestions that institutional investors are crowding out prospective owner-occupiers, official data indicates that institutional investors still make up an important but relatively small proportion of annual residential property purchases. While the Government will continue to keep this issue under review to ensure we protect first-time buyers and owner occupiers, there are no plans to further restrict institutional investment at this time.
