According to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 56 per cent of new homes in Dublin were purchased by funds, institutions and companies rather than individual buyers in 2025. This is a continuing pattern: recent data indicates that “non-household entities” account for a substantial share of purchases, spending billions annually on residential properties, particularly in the capital.
It is important to note that a large portion of this figure is made up of local councils purchasing new-build houses and developing them into social housing for low-income people. 3,448 of the 7,298 new homes bought in 2025 were acquired by local Dublin councils.
However, over 600 of these homes purchased by these “non-household entities” were not acquired by local councils, meaning they were likely bought by large funds or property developers.
Given the trends, the development of flats is now increasingly oriented towards such large buyers as investment funds and housing bodies rather than the end user of the property. As a result, this proportion of new housing is not entering the market for private ownership in the traditional sense.
The implications of this shift are reflected in home availability. With fewer homes reaching the open market, competition for those that do remains high in an already constrained system. Ireland appears to be drifting from a model of widespread homeownership toward one of long-term renting. This model has been defended by policymakers: a spokesperson for the Department of Housing said build-to-rent developments are “critical to achieving a sustainable housing supply”, adding that in their absence “the pressure already facing renters and prospective home-owners would increase significantly”.
However, the role of large institutional landlords remains a concern for renters and prospective buyers. Unlike individual homeowners, such entities typically operate on a yield-based model, which may influence pricing and tenancy structures. Questions around the longer-term impact on wealth accumulation have also featured in recent debate, particularly in relation to those who may remain in the rental sector for extended periods.
This comes as data from Chill Insurance suggests that buying your first home in Ireland is becoming increasingly difficult, especially for those on median incomes: in Dublin, it was assessed that a single applicant would need to earn at least €103,500 to qualify for a mortgage – an income higher than that of a majority of single earners.
