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Affordable housing bodies were outbid by property funds by up to €80,000 per house in some cases over the past four weeks.
The Business Post reports the bodies were outbid on more than 400 homes in the last month.
The Housing Minister Darragh O Brien said he is considering a range of measures to tackle the cuckoo funds .
They could include more than half of units in residential developments being ring-fenced for private buyers.
Just 22 out of 174 new homes in Mullen Park in Maynooth were available for first-time buyers, with the remainder being purchased by an investment trust.
Speaking to
Eamon Quinn: Ireland s broken housing and banking markets were outsourced to the vultures
Not only are the funds outbidding Irish families seeking homes, they are already deeply embedded in every street in the country
Sat, 08 May, 2021 - 08:31
The week started with housing minister Darragh O’Brien insisting that a sovereign government could in no way legislate to plug a loophole that allowed a recently-arrived investment fund, or vulture fund, to build and rent out new houses in residential streets in a Co Kildare town.
The homes would be rented out for 20 to 25 years and, in the midst of the worst housing crisis in the history of the State, would entail little risk for its foreign clients.
I feel constant shame at our situation : Your stories of Ireland s housing crisis
We asked you to share your stories – here’s what you told us. By Aoife Barry Sunday 9 May 2021, 12:05 AM May 9th 2021, 12:05 AM 106,854 Views 90 Comments
Image: Shutterstock/Willy Barton
THIS WEEK, WE asked our readers to share their housing stories.
We wanted to take a snapshot of housing in 2021 – what sort of situations people live in; how they got where they are; what issues they experienced and what barriers they have faced.
Housing has been an ongoing issue for Ireland over the decades, and this year more than ever the fractures in housing supply have become apparent.
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Ireland should look at how some European cities have regulated investment funds to stop them from buying up housing stock.
That s according to Professor Padraic Kenna, Director at the Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy at NUI Galway.
It follows controversy over the news that the bulk of houses in a new estate in Co Kildare had been purchased by investment funds.
Speaking on The Home Show, Prof Kenna explained why investment funds purchase housing and what can be done to solve this problem in Ireland. There s a global wall of money out there and basically these bundles of money are looking for a home where they get something more than 0% or 0.5% returns, he said.
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