Passing the buck, brick by brick

Residential construction is riddled with taxes, all of which are passed on to the buyer

Sion Hill Park in Drumcondra will release more three-bed and four-bed homes from plans later this month

There is so much taxation and red tape costs involved in the construction of a new house that the prime cost (that is the direct materials and labour) bear little relevance to the final price tag. This is the lesser understood tragedy of our property market, but it is also why prices are so high and unlikely to come down.

Here’s an example to highlight the point.

A newly built property is brought ...