Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 May 2026
233. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a comparison between the number of residential units acquired by institutional investment funds and large-scale landlords and the number of homes directly built or purchased by the State in each of the past five years; and whether he accepts that current policy is enabling investor-led acquisition to outpace public housing delivery. [37553/26]
View answerThe Central Statistics Office (CSO) publishes data in respect of residential property transactions by non-households, including international investment funds. The latest data available are for 2024 and can be accessed on the CSO website at: https://data.cso.ie/table/HPA10. This dataset is due to updated with 2025 data in July this year.
Between July 2020 and the end of 2025, 58,816 social homes have been added to the social housing stock. In 2025 alone, 9,088 new build social homes were delivered. This is the highest number of new social homes built in any given year since the foundation of the state. In addition to this, over 22,000 starter home supports were delivered from 2022 to 2025, through the Local Authority Starter Purchase Scheme, Cost Rental and Cost Rental Tenant in Situ, the First Home and Help to Buy Schemes, and the Vacant Properties Refurbishment Grant.
An estimated €20 billion development finance is needed annually to achieve the delivery of 300,000 new homes by 2030, comprising a mix of both public and private financing. Institutional investment is a critical piece of this overall investment – indeed, it is a well established and normal facet of housing investment in our European neighbours and beyond.
The overriding purpose in attracting private capital is to increase housing supply – without it, activity in the housing market would be much reduced and the pressure already facing renters and prospective home-owners would increase significantly.
Delivering Homes, Building Communities seeks to significantly accelerate delivery of new homes by focusing on activating land and creating the optimal environment to encourage housing activity – including regulatory reform, tax incentives and the largest ever capital investment in the history of the State, with €275 billion invested in infrastructure over ten years through the National Development Plan.
The unprecedented level of investment Government have committed, will bring about a very significant scale up in the delivery of housing over the coming years, address the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities, make buying and renting homes more affordable and support the development of villages, towns and cities across the country.
