Builders dismiss property report

PROPOSALS to increase the supply of building land and cap developers’ profits have had a mixed reaction, with the property industry warning against Government interference in the market.

The Irish Home Builders Association (IHBA) said recommendations by an Oireachtas committee that profits on land rezonings be heavily taxed, and that levies be imposed on unused land, would be costs to developers and would be passed on to homebuyers.

But Minister of State Mary Hanafin, who accepted the report yesterday, said their findings dispelled the myths that private property rights were sacrosanct and that local authorities were powerless to intervene.