From Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
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The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, has today welcomed the latest update on the progress of the planning measures he implemented three years ago aimed at boosting home ownership and curbing the bulk purchasing of homes.
The update shows that 49,828 houses and duplexes received planning permission with conditions restricting the bulk buying or multiple sales to a single purchaser and ring-fencing them for owner occupiers in the three-year period between May 2021 and May 2024. In total, almost 20,000 of the homes were recorded as ring-fenced in the last year alone.
The Ministerial Planning Guidelines are part of a series of government measures designed to prohibit the bulk buying of houses and duplexes in order to increase housing stock for home ownership.
Other measures include a 10% stamp duty levy on the cumulative purchase of ten or more residential houses in a 12-month period.
Commenting on the data, Minister O’Brien said:
“In May 2021, I introduced changes to the planning system to protect traditional family homes from commercial institutional investors bulk purchasing them in competition with the owner-occupier market.
“This data confirms that the interventions have worked and have helped level the playing field for traditional home buyers, including first-time buyers, while at the same time, continuing to facilitate investment in the construction of new homes, particularly those high-density apartments which would not otherwise be built.
“In addition to limiting bulk purchases, we are also increasing the supply of housing as evidenced by the latest figures showing record new home starts and completions. This government is committed to supporting home ownership, and thanks to the policy measures in Housing for All, the aspiration of becoming a homeowner is increasingly coming true for a growing number of people.”
ENDS
The breakdown of the 49,828 restrictions includes cases where An Bord Pleanála applied the planning condition prohibiting multiple sales to 14,525 residential units and where Local authorities permitted a total of 35,303 residential units with a condition attached to prohibit multiple sales.