Government party differences over what measures are needed to discourage vulture funds from bulk buying homes have been described as an unwelcome distraction from the real issues by Rory Hearne, the Social Democrats\u2019 general election candidate in Dublin North-West.<\/p>\n
Dr Hearne, who is a lecturer, author and housing campaigner, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we heard from a Fine Gael junior minister this week, who has proposed a doubling of the 10 per cent stamp duty rate for investor funds that bulk purchase houses, is nothing more than pre-budget kite-flying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pushback from Fianna F\u00e1il indicates that Minister Neale Richmond was on a solo run when he made his comments and do not reflect the Government\u2019s official position.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn reality, there is little appetite in Government to clamp down on wealthy vulture funds and prevent them snapping up new family homes in individual housing estates.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2021, the Government introduced a 10 per cent stamp duty rate in cases where 10 or more houses in a single development are purchased by a single buyer or investment firm. However, this tokenistic measure has been hopelessly ineffective in discouraging vulture funds from bulk purchasing homes at the expense of ordinary buyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut even a 20 per cent tax would be insufficient. The Social Democrats previously proposed a 100 per cent stamp duty rate on the bulk purchase of homes, which would amount to an effective ban on the practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot surprisingly, this was not supported by the Government, who seem intent on kicking this urgent issue further down the road by having a long-drawn-out review of the tax rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also worth noting that the current stamp duty rate for bulk purchases only includes family houses. Three years ago, I called for apartments to be included in these measures but was ignored.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, vulture funds are contributing to double-digit growth in prices for two-bedroom apartments in rural Ireland as they buy up apartments, something they\u2019ve been doing in Dublin for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe phoney war between Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael on the stamp duty issue is further proof that it is going to take a general election before we see a new approach to housing policy in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
September 10, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Government party differences over what measures are needed to discourage vulture funds from bulk buying homes have been described as an unwelcome distraction from the real issues by Rory Hearne, the Social Democrats\u2019 general election candidate in Dublin North-West. Dr Hearne, who is a lecturer, author and housing campaigner, said: \u201cWhat we heard from a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6078,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n