Brian Stanley urges housing bond scheme to curb investor buying
Brian Stanley spoke in support of a housing proposal and called for urgent changes to the housing market, tax rules and delivery models. He argued investor and vulture fund ownership of tens of thousands of homes is distorting prices and competing with first-time buyers, and proposed a housing bond and not-for-profit cost-rental and affordable-to-buy schemes.
Support for the proposal and policy changes
Brian Stanley welcomed the proposal and said apartments should be included for higher tax and within the maximum ownership threshold. He expressed clear support for moving housing provision away from speculative investors and towards not-for-profit models.
Investor ownership and Central Bank figures
He cited a Central Bank estimate that 47,000 homes are owned in the state by investment institutions or vulture funds, with 500 of these in Leish. He said this concentration of ownership drives up house prices and competes with first-time buyers.
Funding proposal - housing bond scheme
He proposed using deposits now held in banks and building societies as a resource, noting "170 billion on deposit" and recalling that credit unions previously offered 8 or 9 billion for home construction. He called for a housing bond scheme for ordinary citizens to buy into, offering a modest, tax-free or reduced-tax interest return to finance home construction and infrastructure.
Implementation and local examples
He urged a national mission led by the housing agency and the land development agency, working with local councils. He pointed to Leish County Council and a development in Rat Rua as examples of what can be achieved even within current constraints, and said councils can deliver mixed developments.
Target beneficiaries and tenure goals
He highlighted a "squeeze middle" of households earning above the social housing limit of £35,000 and under £70,000 who cannot get mortgages or go on local authority waiting lists. His proposed solution is mixed developments with affordable-to-buy and cost rental, delivered on a not-for-profit basis and offering secure tenancies for life.
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I welcome this proposal and support it. I think the fact that apartments aren't included for higher tax and within the maximum of nine, that needs to change. If I could say this to you, Minister, the Central Bank estimated 47,000 homes are owned in the state by investment institutions or vulture funds. 500 of these are in leash. That's what they estimate. And this does distort the housing market. It drives up house prices and it means that these investors are competing with first-time buyers. We need to make thousands of affordable houses to buy, cost rentals. That's not-for-profit available. There's a chronic shortage of them in leash. You were there last Friday and welcomed the fact that you're there and you saw some examples of what can be done even within the strictures that are there at the moment. The first thing, obviously, is required is money. I know you can't pull money out of the sky and I'm not going to come in here and say you can. But there's 170 million on deposit. We need to create, that's in banks and building societies. The Credit Union a number of years ago said, we've 8 or 9 billion here to the government. Do you remember that publicly? They said that, you know, this could be used for home construction with a modest return on it. That didn't happen. But there's 170 billion there now. So let's have a housing bond scheme for ordinary citizens where they can buy into that and get a modest interest rate, tax-free or a reduced tax rate on that. Let's use it to solve this issue. So, you know, money is needed for housing infrastructure because we need infrastructure to have housing. Home construction, obviously, we need money for that. And that needs to become a national mission, similar to the rural electrification scheme. It's not that long ago. It's only a generation or so ago that we had that. And we were behind the rest of Europe when we started. But by the time we finished in the late 60s, we were actually ahead of a lot of Europe. So we can do that again. That needs to be driven by the housing agency and the land development agency. And with the local councils, and you saw what Leish County Council is doing, a small council. So it can be done by councils. There's the proof of it. There's a cohort, most under pressure, is a squeeze middle. And in my book, it might be a bit lower than government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, but those people who are just above the social housing limit of £35,000 income limit and under £70,000, you know, those people need assistance to be able, they're unable to get a mortgage, they obviously can't get on a local authority waiting list. So we must have a solution for them. And the solution is mixed developments with affordable to buy and cost rental. The very same as what you saw in Rat Rua last Friday. And I think you'll agree with me that it's a good development. So there's a big demand for one and two bedroom accommodation. We must do that. But the core element has to be not for profit. And we must involve ordinary citizens in this. Let's set up a housing bond system. Let's move this away from the investors, as the motion proposes. This needs to be a national mission. We need to get families and workers who own their own houses and have secure tenancies for life. Thank you. Thank you. You
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