Why should taxpayer provide a cushion for the developers’ soft landing

RECENTLY I visited a showhouse in a new estate about 15km from Cork city.

The asking price was €850,000 for a reasonably substantial home. A surveyor I talked to afterwards estimated that the construction cost, including land, would have been approximately €400,000, representing a profit of €450,000.

This reminded me of the current hysterical debate about stamp duty. Stimulating the market by reducing stamp duty shifts a proportion of the overall tax burden from house purchasers to other taxpayers. While developers are making such large profits, is it logical to do this? In the past they quickly absorbed any potential savings made by consumers into their bottom lines.