Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022
300. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will report on the Housing for All owner occupier guarantee in housing developments to secure homes exclusively for first-time buyers and other owner occupiers. [17528/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Housing for All strategy, the Government plans to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade.
Under Housing Policy Objective 1.10, of the “Supporting Homeownership and Increasing Affordability” pillar of “Housing for All”, the Government committed to introducing a form of ‘owner-occupier guarantee’, which would enable Local Authorities to specify the proportion of houses and duplexes in a development for owner-occupiers.
In support of this commitment the Government introduced a series of measures in May 2021 designed to prohibit the bulk buying of houses and duplexes. This included the Section 28 Guidelines for Planning Authorities “Regulation of Commercial Institutional Investment in Housing” to planning authorities which aimed to prevent multiple units being sold to a single buyer. In addition a 10% stamp duty levy was introduced for the cumulative purchase of 10 or more residential houses in a 12 month period. This policy was aimed at ensuring a level playing field for traditional family home buyers, including but not limited to first-time buyers, while facilitating vital investment in high density apartments.
These Section 28 Guidelines 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.
In addition, the Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Act 2021 (No. 40 of 2021) came into effect on 17 December 2021. Section 7 provides that the housing strategy prepared by a local authority shall take into account the need to ensure that home ownership as a tenure type is provided for and estimated in its housing strategy. This amendment supports the implementation of Housing Policy Objective 1.10 and introduces the principle of home ownership, as a specific tenure type within a local authority’s housing strategy, with particular regard to developments comprising houses and duplexes and gives further legislative effect to the provisions of the Section 28 Guidelines issued in May 2021.
Initial data indicates that this policy has been impactful. Industry analysis suggests that, with changes made in 2021 in relation to the bulk purchase of single family residential units, the proportion of such purchases fell from 11% of residential deals in 2020 to 2% in 2021. In addition, more than 30% of the 46,000 homes purchased in 2021 were bought by first-time buyers.
As we approach one year on from the introduction of these measures, I wrote to the Chief Executives of all 31 Local Authorities and the Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála on 11 February requesting information on the number of units that have been permitted with a planning condition to prohibit multiple sales to a single purchaser arising from last year’s Section 28 Guidelines and accompanying circular, as well as any information on compliance with the conditions and enforcement.
My officials are currently collating and reviewing the data received and following this analysis, I intend publishing the data.
