The Government's answer to the housing crisis caused by Governments its members were also members of is to encourage mainly foreign investment funds to buy up land to build apartments and to bulk-buy housing stock and estates. We have had an influx of such investment funds over the years because Governments have in the past created advantageous market positions for them by giving them favourable tax exemptions and grants. Investment funds have also taken advantage of stamp duty loopholes and exploited regulatory gaps that allow them to act with fewer restrictions than apply to traditional financial institutions. All this has had a detrimental effect on the cost of housing and apartments and has made homeownership unaffordable for ordinary workers and families. Young families and people who want to get on the property ladder cannot compete with such large institutions. Many can barely afford the exorbitant rents being sought. In my constituency of Dublin North-West, a company that bought an entire housing estate in County Kildare bought entire apartment blocks in Santry to rent them out at exorbitant rates. It had been known for some time that investment funds have been bulk-buying houses in estates across the constituency. This has resulted not just a rise in the price of houses but also a significantly reduced supply of houses for first-time buyers. The Government has not put in place any real deterrents for this sort of bulk buying. Its 15% stamp duty rate on bulk acquisitions has not stopped investment funds from continuing to buy properties. In this housing crisis, it is a scandal that foreign investment funds can bulk-buy houses. It is scandal that the Government has created the conditions to allow them to do this. This has to stop and if it continues, it is clear that many people never be able to own their own home or even afford the rents being sought.

Sentiment score: -0.01