Government's cuckoo fund housing measures branded a 'cop-out'

The Taoiseach has defended measures announced last night after the opposition claimed the decision not to include apartments in new tax rates is "an abandonment of our city centres as a place to live".

New measures to stop cuckoo funds from bulk buying homes have been dubbed a "cop out" and will not reduce rents or house prices, the Dáil has heard.

The Taoiseach has defended measures announced last night after the opposition claimed the decision not to include apartments in new tax rates is "an abandonment of our city centres as a place to live".

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said investment funds "breathed a sigh of relief," after the publication of new rules.

Councils will be allowed to ringfence up to half of new-build housing estates for owner-occupiers under new rules aimed at tackling the influence of so-called cuckoo funds.

Investors will be liable for higher stamp duty, up from 1% to 10%, for every house above 10 in a single development. However, the measures will not apply to apartments.

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In a direct attack on the Taoiseach, Ms McDonald said: "You had two options last night: To come forward with meaningful plans to stop investment cuckoo funds snapping up family homes and pushing ordinary buyers out of the market, or you could tinker around the edges with measures that will have no real impact on them.

"You made your choice and again we see wealthy investment funds and big development always come out on top with Fianna Fáil."

She called for an end to all tax advantages for these funds and said apartments must be included in the measures as she said half all homes built in Dublin last year were apartments and this rose to six out of every seven homes in the city centre area.

"People expected their government to step in and to stop these funds in their tracks, but what they got was a cop out," Ms McDonald said.

Responding, Mr Martin said the changes approved by Cabinet are among a "range of measures" being worked on by the Government.

He claimed Sinn Féin is exploiting the crisis for their own political gain.

"There are gaps everywhere in the Sinn Féin housing policy, and you're not strong on the detail on this. You keep coming out with big figures for this and that, they're not really grounded in reality in terms of providing housing for people on the ground," Mr Martin said.

Solidarity-PBP TD Richard Boyd Barrett claimed the Government is "beholden" to investment funds.

"The State is the main mover in the house market and it's spending €3bn. The problem is it's spending it on lining the pockets of the vulture funds and the cuckoos. The vast majority of the money the State is putting in is going on RAS, HAP and leasing arrangements. It's not going into building our own stock," he told the Dáil.

Social Democrat TD Gary Gannon said the decision not to include apartments in the measures is "an abandonment of our city centres as a place to live".

But the Taoiseach said the increase in stamp duty will have a considerable impact on these funds.

"The fundamental issue is supply, we are simply not building enough houses and apartments," Mr Martin said adding that many apartment blocks would not have been built without the financial backing of investment funds."