Exclusive - Éirígí Research Identifies 15,500 New Homes That Are Destined For Vulture Landlord Ownership
Grounding-breaking research by Éirígí has identified more than 15,500 new homes which are destined for vulture landlord ownership in the coming years. 9,841 of these homes are already under construction at 32 individual building sites in the greater Dublin area.
The remaining 5,720 homes will be built on 19 sites which have already been granted full planning permission, with the bulk of these permissions secured as 'Build-To-Rent' developments which can only be owned by institutional landlords.
Cherrywood in South Dublin. One of 32 active construction sites that are set to deliver almost 10,000 more homes to the vulture landlords
The research is the latest to emerge from the 'Track The Vultures Project' which Éirígí launched in late 2020. The project aims to identify every vulture landlord-owned housing development in the country and to make that information publicly available via an online database and the #TrackTheVulture interactive map at https://eirigi.org/trackthevultures
Speaking in relation to the new research, Cathaoirleach Éirígí, Brian Leeson, said, "The research that we have published this week is of national importance. It exposes the true scale, and increasing pace, of the vulture takeover of Irish housing.
It took over ten years for the vulture landlords to amass their current combined portfolio of roughly 16,000 Irish homes. Now our research shows that they are on track to effectively double the number of Irish homes that they own in the next two to three years.”
It's important to note that our research only establishes a baseline for the minimum number of homes that the vultures are on track to own in the near future. There will almost certainly acquire additional housing outside of the 51 developments we have identified to date.”
The Jam Factory site in Coolock. One of 19 development sites with full planning permission that are set to deliver another 5,720 homes to the vulture landlords.
Leeson continued, “Our research shreds the government's assertion that the vulture landlords are essentially bit players in the housing market. In reality these corporate mega-landlords are now the single biggest player in the market and big enough to distort the entire housing sector as they compete with each other to snap up Irish housing developments.
The billions of euros that the vultures are pumping into Irish housing is driving up the cost of construction land, materials and labour, which in turn is driving up house prices and rental rates. This vicious inflationary circle is undermining the wider economy and indeed Irish society.
Our Track The Vultures project has done the heavy lifting research that neither the state or the main opposition parties were willing to do. That information is now in the public domain and easily accessible via the #TrackTheVultures map on the Éirígí website.
In light of the now undeniable scale of the vulture takeover of Irish housing, Éirígí is again calling for an outright and complete ban on the corporate ownership of Irish housing.
All of the existing housing and future housing that is currently owned by the vulture landlords needs to be brought into public ownership as one element of the establishment of a new system of universally accessible, mixed income, public housing. Only UP Housing can permanently end the housing crisis and transform Irish society for the better."
Éirígí ‘Vultures Out’ protest, Dundrum, Dublin, May 2021
Éirígí For A New Republic has been to the fore of highlighting and challenging the vulture takeover of Irish housing since it first emerged as a major problem.
Unlike the main opposition parties, including Sinn Féin, Labour and the Social Democrats, we are calling for a complete and outright ban on the corporate ownership of Irish housing.
All of the housing and development land that is currently owned by the vulture landlords needs to be taken into public ownership as part of the process of establishing a new system of Universal Public Housing.
If you’re ready to join the fight for housing justice and New Republic, contact us today here. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Join us today.