I must now deal with a deferred division relating to the motion regarding investment funds trading in the residential property market. On Wednesday,17 January, on the question, "That the amendment to the amendment be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 80(2), that division must be taken now.
Investment Funds Trading in the Residential Property Market: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Pearse Doherty on Wednesday, 17 January 2024:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes that:
— the housing crisis continues to spiral out of control;
— residential property prices nationally have increased by 28 per cent since this Government took office;
— residential property prices in Dublin have increased by 21 per cent since this Government took office;
— high rents and high residential property prices are making it increasingly difficult for workers and families to purchase and own their own home;
— the recent bulk purchase of 46 homes aimed at individual buyers in Belcamp Manor, Dublin by an investment fund at the expense of individual home buyers is the latest in a series of bulk purchases by investment funds of homes aimed at individual buyers; and
— Government policies have facilitated and incentivised the displacement of struggling home buyers by investment funds in the housing market;
further notes that:
— Sinn Féin has called for a higher rate of stamp duty to be applied to the purchase of homes by investment funds to end this unacceptable practice through:
— amendments to the Finance Act; and
— a Private Members' Motion introduced on 18th May, 2021, which the Government rejected;
— the Government was warned by Sinn Féin that belated measures introduced in May 2021 would be insufficient to end this unacceptable practice; and
— the Government is responsible for the continued bulk purchase by investment funds of homes aimed at individual buyers, with 630 such homes purchased by investment funds between May 2021 and March 2023 at the expense of individual home buyers;
concludes that the Government, comprising of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, is a government promoting the interests of developers, landlords and investment funds at the expense of struggling home buyers; and
calls on the Government to introduce legislation to impose a stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of residential property by investment funds at a minimum rate of 17 per cent.
The following amendment No. 1 was moved by the Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection, Deputy Neale Richmond:
To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"welcomes:
— the introduction of measures in 2021 to disincentivise the bulk purchasing of new homes by investment funds, including a higher 10 per cent stamp rate for certain bulk purchases of residential properties and planning guidelines to restrict the bulk purchase of houses for planning applications lodged following their introduction in May 2021;
— that since the introduction of these measures, the increased level of stamp duty has applied to less than 2 per cent of total new dwelling completions;
— the Section 28 Guidelines for Planning Authorities 'Regulation of Commercial Institutional Investment in Housing' which aim to provide an 'owner-occupier' guarantee by ensuring that new 'own-door' houses and duplex units in housing developments can no longer be bulk-purchased by institutional investors in a manner that causes the displacement of individual purchasers or social and affordable housing, including cost-rental;
— that at the end of Q4 2023, planning permissions which had the 'owner-occupier' guarantee attached amounted to 39,900 homes with an owner occupier guarantee since the guidelines were introduced in 2021; and
— that the Government is committed to ensuring that newly built houses are available to first time buyers and owner-occupiers and that the Government will continue to examine how this can be best achieved; and
acknowledges:
— the extensive range of measures included in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, building on the initiatives already undertaken and in progress, which will be brought forward to support individuals and families to access affordable housing;
— that for 2024, the Government set forward a record €5.1 billion budget for capital investment in housing;
— that Budget 2024 committed to deliver 9,300 new-build social homes and to make available 4,130 homes for affordable purchase and Cost Rental;
— the investment of over €136 million in the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, to unlock development in cities and towns around the country this year;
— the Government's commitment to putting affordability at the heart of the housing system;
— the extension of the Help to Buy Scheme until the end of 2025;
— the most comprehensive legislation dealing solely with affordability in the history of the State through the Affordable Housing Act 2021;
— the key elements of the Affordable Housing Act 2021, encompassing local authority-led affordable homes, Cost Rental units, the Affordable Purchase Shared Equity Scheme and expanding the provisions made under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000;
— the Land Development Agency Act 2021 as a seminal change in how we manage public land and strategic planning; and
— the implementation of the Housing for All: A New Housing Plan which sets out a comprehensive new vision for housing in Ireland, putting affordable home ownership back at its heart with ambitious multi-annual funding, as demonstrated through results including:
— 29,634 new homes commenced in the first 11 months of 2023, a 17.7 per cent increase on the same period in 2022;
— 8,452 new homes completed in Q3 of 2023, a 14.4 per cent increase on the same three months of 2022;
— a record 22,443 homes completed in the first nine months of 2023, an 8.9 per cent increase on the same period in 2022 and the highest number of completions recorded for the first three quarters of any year since the Central Statistics Office data series began in 2011;
— that 9,662 dwelling units were granted planning permission in Q3 2023, an increase of 43.3 per cent on Q3 2022; and
— the highest number of owner occupier homes being purchased in years despite ideological arguments from opposition parties.".
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1:
To insert the following after "arguments from opposition parties":
"calls on the Government to:
— introduce legislation to impose a stamp duty surcharge on the bulk purchase of homes by investment funds at a minimum rate of 100 per cent".
- (Deputy Cian O'Callaghan)
Amendment to amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 59; Níl, 70; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Andrews, Chris.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Barry, Mick.
- Berry, Cathal.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Browne, Martin.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Michael.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Pa.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- McNamara, Michael.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Níl
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Creed, Michael.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harris, Simon.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Cian O'Callaghan and Gary Gannon; Níl, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin.
Amendment to amendment declared lost.