The Government is continuing to facilitate the bulk purchase of homes by investment funds – and failing to protect first time buyers, according to Social Democrats Housing Spokesman Cian O’Callaghan.
Commenting on a report in the Business Post of an investment fund buying 46 of 54 homes in a Dublin housing estate, the TD for Dublin Bay North said:
“The latest incidence of an investment fund bulk-buying most of a housing estate represents another slap in the face for the thousands of people desperate to get a place of their own.
“It has now been two and a half years since an investment fund attempted to buy an entire housing estate of 135 homes in Maynooth. In response to the ensuing justifiable public outrage, the Government introduced a piecemeal measure of increased stamp duty on funds which purchase 10 or more homes in a given year.
“It is abundantly clear that this tokenism has not scared off investment funds, which are cashing in on the highest rents in this country in the history of the state.
“These homes in Balgriffin, Dublin 17, are being advertised at rents of €3,175 per month. That’s €38,100 a year in rental income from one of these homes – a staggering €1,752,600 a year for the 46 homes they purchased.
“In a rental sector as lucrative as Dublin’s, the 10% stamp duty can easily be offset by profits.
“There is no reason investment funds should be allowed to buy up housing estates. It benefits nobody but their own shareholders.
“We need homes that people can afford – not investment opportunities for speculators.
“The Government’s litany of failed housing policies and half measures is locking a generation out of homeownership. We need a total ban on investment funds bulk buying homes.”
9 January, 2024