Stamp Duty On Bulk Purchases Of Houses & Duplexes Now In Effect.

Thursday, 20 May 2021 09:43

Acquisition of 10 or more incurs 10% rate.

Changes to stamp duty for the bulk buying of houses and duplexes came into effect overnight.

Purchases of 10 houses or more will now incur a 10 per cent stamp duty rate after the Dáil passed the resolution without a vote.

One of the factors in the change was the purchase of 80% of a new Maynooth housing estate, Mullen Park, by an investment fund in recent weeks.

Opposition parties have said the move doesn't go nearly far enough and won't stop investment funds bulk buying property here.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe hit back at Sinn Féin criticism during last night's debate:

Build-to-rent apartments have lower build standards - smaller, less storage space & no private outdoor space. They are:

“Cheaper to build, more expensive to rent and impossible to buy – a neat summation of this Govt’s housing policy,” says @RoisinShortall #homesnotinvestments pic.twitter.com/L9phz2IbJS
— Social Democrats (@SocDems) May 19, 2021

The measure won't include apartments.

Co-leader of the Social Democrats Roisin Shortall says this hole in the legislation will mean more young people being denied access to housing:

While the Public Expenditure Minister says there are no immediate plans to introduce a vacant property tax.

It comes after the Tanaiste Leo Varadkar raised the idea of a levy on vacant homes to tackle the housing crisis.

There are concerns about the large number of apartments lying vacant in Dublin and elsewhere.

Michael McGrath says they do want to make better use of existing stock but says there aren’t plans for a tax.