Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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65. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of homes prevented from bulk sale in Meath since May 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12616/25]

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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108. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of homes prevented from bulk sale to residential funds in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown since 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12581/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 108 together.

Government has implemented several measures in recent years to ensure a balanced housing market across all tenures, including home ownership, social housing, and private rental.

These measures include, inter alia, an 'owner-occupier' guarantee allowing local authorities to designate a percentage of houses and duplexes in a development for owner-occupiers. They were given effect in May 2021 through the Section 28 Guidelines for Planning Authorities which stipulate that a condition should be included in new planning permissions requiring all houses and duplex units to be available for sale and first occupation by separate, individual households for a certain period after completion.

These measures have succeeded in preventing the inappropriate bulk purchase of a very significant number of homes and securing those homes for purchase by homeowners, with planning permission granted for some 55,600 homes, with conditions prohibiting bulk purchase by, or multiple sale to, a single purchaser of those homes between May 2021 and November 2024.

This includes permission granted with conditions prohibiting the bulk purchase of 1,001 and 2,529 homes by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and Meath County Councils respectively.

The overall figure also includes permissions granted by An Bord Pleanála in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and Meath. A breakdown of the An Bord Pleanála data by local authority is not currently available.

The new Programme for Government commits to maintaining the 'owner occupier guarantee', thereby continuing to prohibit the inappropriate bulk purchase of homes and securing homes for homeownership.