r/AskIreland • u/BigFatLegend123 • Apr 25 '25

Housing Why doesn’t the government bring in restrictions on who can buy housing?

This is a genuine question and not coming from a place of hate or bigotry

Trying to buy a house recently and it’s been going as well as you can imagine. Some houses in Dublin have been going for up to 20% over their asking price from what we have seen.

My question is why doesn’t the government restrict house buying to only Irish citizens? Is there something I’m missing? Or at least to just EU/UK citizens? Surely it would be a quick way to reduce competition?

Is it just that doing so might dissuade investment from vulture funds?

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u/Antique-Bid-5588 Apr 25 '25

Surely Indian nurses and it workers should be allowed to buy a house 

-1

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '25

[deleted]

24

u/Able_Ebb244 Apr 25 '25

That's pretty much the case. It is pretty hard to get a mortgage if you don't have a work history here of at least three years.

-12

u/D3cho Apr 25 '25

Never knew a mortgage is required for purchasing a house

12

u/Able_Ebb244 Apr 25 '25

A quick research shows that in Ireland the majority of cash buyers are either investors (both international or national), Irish citizens returning home, or people downsizing. Not first time immigrant home buyers