Investors lease former social housing properties back to state

Homes in old council estates are being rented to South Dublin County Council, with no option to purchase at end of the 25-year agreement

Eoin Ó Broin: the fact the state was now leasing homes that it previously built and sold at a cut price is ‘absurd’. Picture: Collins

Large institutional investors have started to lease former social housing properties, originally built by the state, back to the state for use as social housing under lengthy lease arrangements.

The Business Post has learned that second-hand homes in old council estates are now being rented to South Dublin County Council at an estimated rent of €1,500 a month, with no option for purchase at the end of the 25-year lease.

The three-bed homes were originally ...