In an effort to curb the bulk buying of houses by investment funds, Fine Gael is advocating for a 100% hike in the tax imposed on such transactions. On a Sunday broadcast of the RTÉ radio programme This Week, Neale Richmond, the Minister of State, argued that the increased rate has, to a certain degree, deterred mass purchases. Given Fine Gael’s reputation as the “home ownership party”, Mr. Richmond believes there’s justification to raise the rate to 20% now.
Previously, the Government had rejected a prospect proposed by Sinn Féin to boost the rate at the year’s commencement. However, Mr. Richmond claimed that substantial budget proposals should be tabled in the autumn. In his opinion, institutional funds should not contribute to the extent present, as approximately 600 homes have been procured en masse this year.
He plans to discuss this suggestion with Finance Minister Jack Chambers during their meetings this week. Nonetheless, comprehensive discussions with him or the Housing Minister, Darragh O’Brien, haven’t yet taken place.
Should the idea fail to be incorporated into the budget, Mr. Richmond expressed readiness to push it into the Fine Gael poll agenda. While he did not comment directly on RTÉ queries about possible pressure on Fianna Fáil, he doesn’t anticipate his proposal sparking discord among the Coalition members.
Following disputes over the wholesale buying of homes on a Kildare estate, a 10% rate on purchases of 10 or more homes was implemented by the Government in May 2021. The rate is applied to bulk purchasing of houses, not apartments, and takes effect when a single buyer acquires ten or more houses within a year.
Nonetheless, some instances of bulk buying persist, with cases noted in North Dublin. Previously in January, the then Finance Minister, Michael McGrath, argued that this heightened rate had affected less than one per cent of residential dealings, signifying that such activities were not markedly influential.
Interestingly, a source from Fianna Fáil mentioned that the party wouldn’t resist such a move, although there may be some opposition within the Finance Department due to concerns over its consequences for company financial statements and capital influx into Ireland.
The source shared that available data indicate that this practice has been substantially curtailed. However, high-profile cases like Ryanair’s acquisition of houses for staff accommodation may reignite controversies around the practice, even though this differs from the original issue that the Government wished to regulate.