Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government's failure to adequately address the housing crisis, one of its own making, has meant that unsavoury actors have entered the housing market and they act with impunity. A classic example are the aptly named "vulture funds" which swoop into our distressed housing market to buy up housing stocks and portfolios. Investment funds have the advantage of not being subject to the same constraints as the banks. They have little or no concern about the backlash or negative consequences of their actions on their company branding so they are more inclined and more likely to take drastic action to protect their investments. This can mean repossessing homes and evicting people. These companies have only one goal, that is, to be profitable. They achieve this by protecting their investments through offering those with a home loan a write down or eviction. The banks win when they sell their loan books to investment funds because their reputations are not tarnished as they are not responsible for the eviction of the homeowner. They do not like to have to offer write downs to individual mortgage holders as others on their books with distressed loans might look for a similar resolution to their repayment difficulties. The vulture fund does not have these concerns and can do either with a view to what is in the best interests of its investors.

Investment funds do enormous damage to Irish society by locking out those seeking to buy a home and forcing renters into paying unaffordable rents. The Government is happy to let this continue regardless of the social and economic cost to the country as long as it can say that housing is available. Vulture funds buying up large blocks of housing and apartments creates its own monopoly of sorts. These investment funds will be the market drivers. Through their ownership of vast numbers of apartments and houses they will have the leverage to determine market prices. House prices will be and are being driven by these tactics. They are no longer affordable by two professionals taking home incomes, which are above the national average. This is not sustainable.

We need to ensure that in new housing developments institutional investment funds are locked out from purchasing in bulk by imposing a stamp duty surcharge and ending tax exemptions granted by the Government. In the Minister's constituency, a 15-storey building close to Campbell's Bridge has been bought up by an investment fund. It would be ridiculous for the Minister to say that he is not aware of what is going on.

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