Local Fianna Fáil Senator Erin McGreehan has welcomed a progress update from her party colleague and Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, on the planning measures he introduced three years ago to increase home ownership and restrict the practice of the bulk purchasing of homes. 

The update shows that 1,402 homes in Louth received planning permission with conditions restricting the bulk buying or multiple sales to a single purchaser in the three-year period from May 2021 to May 2024.

The measures introduced by Minister O’Brien in 2021 included a 10% stamp duty levy on the cumulative purchase of 10 or more residential properties, excluding apartments, within a year. This was aimed at deterring institutional investors from bulk purchasing homes.

Nationally, in the past three years, almost 50,000 homes have been prevented from bulk purchases.

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. 

Commenting on the data, Senator McGreehan said: “Fianna Fáil in Government is committed to supporting home ownership and first-time buyers.

“This latest data demonstrates that our measures designed to prohibit the bulk buying of houses and duplexes in order to increase housing stock for home ownership are working.

“As well as restricting bulk buying, we are also boosting supply through our plan, Housing for All, with recent data for new home commencements at record levels.

“Furthermore, the continuation of the development levy waiver and Irish Water connection charge rebate shows that we are using every lever at our disposal to tackle the housing crisis.

“Fianna Fáil’s top priority remains doing everything we can to help people to afford to buy or rent a home. My focus is on doing whatever I can to keep this positive momentum going.”