Housing

Taoiseach says €1.7m starter home sale in north Dublin was ‘not competing with first-time buyers’

Investment funds have been accused of driving up prices in suburbs

Housing: Micheál Martin insisted that the activities of the investment funds in Castleview and Clonsilla did not typify the government’s housing policy. Picture: RollingNews.ie

Taoiseach Michéal Martin had to face Dáil questions about institutional investors “snapping up” family homes after a Business Post investigation.

Last weekend, the Business Post reported how an investment fund had bought nine different starter homes in a quiet estate in Swords in north Dublin on the same day.

The prices paid for one home in the Castleview estate was €1.7 million while others attracted premium prices of between €20,000 and €88,000 over the median ...