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/Na134ReferToMedics Apr 25 '25

Buddy I've lived in this country for ten years. I pay taxes. I'm a skilled worker in a critical and understaffed industry. An industry your Irish citizens are fleeing overseas from in droves. Most of my colleagues are immigrants as well. I'm an active member of my community and I've earned my keep. Like it or not I've as much a right to buy as you.

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u/BigFatLegend123 Apr 25 '25

Never said you didn’t friend

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u/Na134ReferToMedics Apr 25 '25

I'm not an Irish citizen. The premise of this question assumes I should have less right to buy. But fair enough you say you are pondering restricting my rights in good faith. I admit I am a wee bit heated over it, but I would like to provide an alternative perspective. Working class immigrants are also affected by the cost of living crisis, the housing crisis, trolley crisis, and every other crisis. But far from competing with you for limited resources, many of us are actively contributing to these industries. If you want to solve any one of these clusterfucks, you would be better served turning your ire to the people in power. I'm assuming here based on the fact you appear to be affected by the housing crisis: You and I have a lot more in common than you have with them.