#Budget18: Commercial property stamp duty may deter international investors, experts say

Reacting to today's Budget, commercial property consultants have warned that an increase to stamp duty may deter international investors.

CBRE Ireland said the increase from 2% to 6% from midnight tonight is "unwlecome".

CBRE claim increased cost of stamp duty will "impact negatively on commercial property values and in turn on the value of pensions".

The property consultants added that stamp duty will "do nothing to stimulate housing delivery, which is the most critical issue facing Government".

“To say that today’s Budget is negative for the commercial real estate market is an understatement," according to Marie Hunt, Executive Director and Head of Research at CBRE Ireland.

"Unexpectedly trebling transaction costs in this manner is clearly unwelcome considering the reputational damage it will do with these institutional investors.

"A large proportion of the institutional capital coming from Europe and indeed domestically is pension capital, so this is an indirect tax on the pension industry which makes Ireland less attractive internationally.

"It will certainly have a bearing on investors decision-making, not least the price they will bid and pay for real estate assets from this point forward," she added.