Calls for Stamp Duty on bulk purchases to be doubled to 20 per cent
A 10 per cent rate on Stamp Duty was introduced in 2021 by the Government on institutional investors buying more than 10 homes in the same development within 12 months
Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond has called for Stamp Duty on bulk purchases of new homes by so-called vulture funds to be doubled to 20 per cent.
A 10 per cent rate on Stamp Duty was introduced in 2021 by the Government on institutional investors buying more than 10 homes in the same development within 12 months.
Mr Richmond, who is the Junior Finance Minister, said the doubling of the tax should be introduced in the upcoming budget or in the Fine Gael manifesto.
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"I do believe things have changed and we have seen an increase in data and representations into our office and more and more people citing this being an issue," Mr Richmond said, speaking on RTE’s This Week on Sunday.
Mr Richmond said he had spoken to Taoiseach Simon Harris about the proposal but he had not raised it yet with Minister for Finance Jack Chambers, but said he would do so this week.
"We have to keep policies always under constant review, and this stamp duty rate that was introduced has worked to an extent.
"It's slowed down the amount of purchases, but it hasn't worked completely, and we still see in the last year, over 600 new homes were picked up.
"Now we're looking for official confirmation on that and the 600 homes could be going to families in my constituency or anywhere around the country.
"We have to be flexible. We want to use every lever to make sure that more people can own their own home," he said.
The Government opposed a Sinn Féin proposal earlier this year to increase the tax to 17 per cent.
"This is about delivering more homes for Irish people to own," Mr Richmond continued.
"Completions are going up a massive amount, we need to ensure those homes are going to Irish people to own themselves,” he said, adding: "We are a party that believes that people should own their home and also own the land under it unlike other parties."
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