Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As I set out in my response to the Deputy in question number 3328 of 24 January 2024, the Government is acutely aware that the bulk purchase of homes deeply affects aspiring owner-occupiers and first time buyers, and has introduced numerous measures to address this. This has been addressed both through disincentivising bulk purchases, and through positive steps taken to increase the housing supply.

Revenue and CSO data show that the higher stamp duty rate has applied to less than 1% of residential property transactions in the May 2021 to November 2023 period, and has applied to less than 2% of total new dwellings completed from 20 May 2021. Revenue data also demonstrates a yield of approximately €40 million has been collected in this category from 2021 to 2023.

As the Deputy is aware, Section 28 Guidelines were introduced by the Government in 2021, which aims to provide an ‘owner-occupier’ guarantee by ensuring that new ‘own-door’ houses and duplex units in housing developments can no longer be bulk-purchased by institutional investors in a manner that causes the displacement of individual purchasers or social and affordable housing, including cost-rental. At the end of Q4 2023, planning permissions which had this condition attached amounted to 39,900 homes with an owner-occupier guarantee since the guidelines were introduced in 2021.

The Government has also responded to challenges in the housing market through Housing for All, which is the Government’s plan to boost the supply of housing to 2030, to increase availability and affordability of housing, and to create a sustainable housing system into the future. The Government continued to fulfil this commitment through Budget 2024, which brought forward a record €5.1 billion budget for capital investment in housing. This includes €2.6 billion in exchequer funding, €978 million in Land Development Agency (LDA) funding, and €1.5 billion in Housing Finance Agency (HFA) funding.

The Government has consistently committed to putting affordability at the heart of the housing system through multi-annual funding through Housing for All. More homes are being built and bought than in a generation. The latest CSO data on planning permissions shows that nationally, 9,662 units were granted planning permission in Q3 2023, an increase of 43.3 per cent on Q3 2022. Residential planning permissions granted for the January to September 2023 period increased 13 per cent on the same period in 2022.

Through the plan’s record investment by the State in social and affordable housing (which will boost supply), supports for people to buy or rent affordable homes, as well as reforms of rental protections, planning, land management, social housing and other areas, we are addressing the challenges people are facing in accessing affordable housing to rent or buy.

Given the above mentioned measures the Government has taken against bulk purchasing of residential property, and taking into consideration the positive results seen through Housing for All, I do not have immediate plans to increase the rate and reduce the threshold at which the higher stamp duty rate on certain purchases of residential property applies. However, as with all areas of tax policy, stamp duty on bulk purchases of residential property will be kept under review throughout the annual budgetary process.