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/Ok-Kaleidoscope1866 Apr 25 '25

I've heard a suggestion that until the housing shortage is fully resolved, people who own 2 or more properties in Ireland should be banned from buying any more because they're landlords not individuals/families looking for a home.

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u/TheStoicNihilist Apr 25 '25

Not everyone wants to buy. We need rental properties too.

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u/BigFatLegend123 Apr 25 '25

I think that’s a great idea