Michael Brennan: First-time buyers' frustrations set to continue for some time yet

The Minister for Housing and his officials are working on changes to the planning regulations that could ringfence more than 50 per cent of the units in new developments for private buyers, but there are many obstacles to be negotiated

The government has come under pressure since the Business Post reported on the purchase of most of the 170 houses in the Mullen Park development in Maynooth by Round Hill Capital. Picture: Fergal Phillips

There is always pressure in politics for instant solutions. The government is under intense pressure to act after the Business Post’s reporting on the purchase of most of the 170 houses in the Mullen Park estate in Maynooth by Round Hill Capital, a London-based global investment firm, caused political and public controversy.

But the government is not finding it easy to come up a fast way of banning institutional investors from purchasing entire estates at ...