Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann: notes that:

— the housing crisis continues to spiral out of control;

— residential property prices nationally have increased by 28 per cent since this Government took office;

— residential property prices in Dublin have increased by 21 per cent since this Government took office;

— high rents and high residential property prices are making it increasingly difficult for workers and families to purchase and own their own home;

— the recent bulk purchase of 46 homes aimed at individual buyers in Belcamp Manor, Dublin by an investment fund at the expense of individual home buyers is the latest in a series of bulk purchases by investment funds of homes aimed at individual buyers; and

— Government policies have facilitated and incentivised the displacement of struggling home buyers by investment funds in the housing market;

further notes that:

— Sinn Féin has called for a higher rate of stamp duty to be applied to the purchase of homes by investment funds to end this unacceptable practice through:

— amendments to the Finance Act; and

— a Private Members' Motion introduced on 18th May, 2021, which the Government rejected;

— the Government was warned by Sinn Féin that belated measures introduced in May 2021 would be insufficient to end this unacceptable practice; and

— the Government is responsible for the continued bulk purchase by investment funds of homes aimed at individual buyers, with 630 such homes purchased by investment funds between May 2021 and March 2023 at the expense of individual home buyers;

concludes that the Government, comprising of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, is a government promoting the interests of developers, landlords and investment funds at the expense of struggling home buyers; and

calls on the Government to introduce legislation to impose a stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of residential property by investment funds at a minimum rate of 17 per cent.

The number of homes that were snapped up by vulture funds last year alone is 623. These are homes that should have been available to struggling families who want to get on to the property ladder and put a roof over their heads and who want to have that forever home. The number of homes that have been bought up by vulture funds since the Government told us it had resolved this issue in 2021 is 1,025. It did not resolve it, however. We told the Government at the time that its policy would not work and that it was designed to fail.

In May 2020, one of the leading wealth advisory firms in the State issued a paper to potential investors on the Irish housing market. It told potential investors that: "The current high level of house prices and rents in Ireland’s residential property market have been driven in a significant way by the Government’s housing policy with favourable policies attracting institutional investors in the market." The firm concluded that "the current housing policy has benefited both institutions and developers at the expense of individual buyers." That was the assessment not of Sinn Féin, not of this party, but one of the leading wealth advisory firms in the State. It correctly described a housing system that is stacked against renters and struggling homebuyers by this Government. The game is rigged, with renters and struggling homebuyers the losers. For years, we in Sinn Féin have been calling for immediate measures to support homebuyers and stop the snapping up of homes by investment funds.

Nearly three years ago, there was public outrage when an investment fund attempted to snap up 135 homes in a new housing estate in Mullen Park, Maynooth, County Kildare. The previous month, 112 homes in Hollystown, Dublin 15 were bought up by a vulture fund - an entire development. These bulk purchases were not by accident. They were part of a wider trend, with investment funds moving in to bulk purchase thousands of family homes that should be available to workers and families desperate to purchase a home, facilitated and encouraged by Government policy.

It is another symptom, if we needed another example, of a housing crisis under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It is a housing crisis that has punished renters and an entire generation locked out of homeownership. These events caused public outrage and a demand for action. As struggling first-time buyers scrimped and saved to build up their deposits, they were no match whatsoever for the institutional investment funds against which they had been forced to compete with the means and tax advantages to snap up homes from under their very noses.

For years, Sinn Féin has been raising these very issues. We have tabled amendments. We have made proposals to tackle this issue and stop this practice to tip the scales decisively in favour of struggling homebuyers. Time and time again, however, the Government opposed our amendments and rejected our proposals. As a result of the public outrage and political pressure following the events of 2021, the Government was forced to perform a U-turn and address this unacceptable practice. However, its response was to pay lip service to the problem and design a solution that was doomed to fail. A new tax was introduced to give the appearance of action. As I warned in the Dáil back in 2021, however, the Minister set a stamp duty charge so low that it cannot act as an effective deterrent. Apartments were not even included in the new tax despite warnings from a senior civil servant, which I received in correspondence under freedom of information, who said that "by having no extra stamp duty on bulk purchases of apartments you could potentially drive the individual home purchaser out of that market." Again my party submitted amendments to introduce a higher and punitive tax to stop this practice and again, our proposals were not heeded. Where has this left us today? It has left us in a place where workers and families who are so desperate and who are struggling to buy their own homes are being priced out of it by vulture funds.

Last week, we learned that an investment fund had snapped up 85% of new homes in a development in Balgriffin, Dublin 13. These are homes that should have been made available to struggling first-time buyers but instead they have been bulk purchased by an investment fund that will rent them out at an extortionate price in excess of €3,000. It is a slap in the face for workers and families in that area and beyond who hoped that this new development would be their chance to finally secure a place to call home. What happened in Belcamp Manor, Balgriffin was not an isolated incident. The figures released to me today by the Minister for Finance show that the Government is fully aware that this is happening. What happened on Belcamp Manor estate is happening every month. There have been, on average, 40 homes bought up by vulture funds every month since the Government introduced these measures in 2021. There was a 71% increase last year in the number of homes that vulture funds have been buying up primarily in this city. What is the Government planning to do tonight? It is planning to once again vote against Sinn Féin's proposal that will tip the scales against the vulture funds and actually tip them in favour of struggling families who want to purchase their own homes.

The Minister of State has a choice here, the same way he had a choice in 2020 when we tabled amendments to the Finance Bill and the same way he had a choice in 2021 after the public outcry at what was happening in Maynooth, to actually stop this practice. Now, the Government has been exposed. The Taoiseach stood up and said that we need to look into how this is happening. He knows fine well why it is happening. The Department of Finance told the Minister for Finance that the measures were not working. It said at that time that 630 homes had been bought up by vulture funds since 2021.

We now know that it is more than 1,200 homes. Sinn Féin has proposals before the Dáil tonight that will stamp out vulture funds buying up family homes from under the noses of ordinary workers and families.

It is time for Fine Gael to stop out rolling out the red carpet to the vulture funds. It is time for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, for the first time, to stand up for the interests of ordinary workers and families who want to purchase their own homes.

See this speech in context