Over 90pc of respondents said they intend to invest in the Irish private rental sector within the next three years while nearly 60pc favoured student accommodation. About 30pc are targeted on social housing.
There also appeared to be good interest in social housing and cost-rental subsectors. In contrast, the co-living and nursing home subsectors don’t appear to be near-term priorities for investors.
“On balance we believe that the near doubling in housing starts in 2024 should ultimately support an improvement in supply… with housing completion numbers more likely to be in the 35,000-40,000 range in the next couple of years, higher than in recent years but still below most estimates of housing demand,” says the 2025 Living Investor Survey Ireland from estate agents Cushman & Wakefield.
The survey shows that these institutional investors’ portfolios averaged about 1,400 units in size, while one-in-three investors owned less than 1,000 units. Cushman says these are modest-sized portfolios.
The survey analysis also questions the Government’s 15pc stamp duty rate on institutional investors’ purchases of housing as these purchases consistently add to Ireland’s housing stock.
“At this important point in time for the housing market such measures risk chasing away international capital,” it adds.
Ireland still ranks highly among international investors because of the country’s demographic profile, supply-demand backdrop and economic outlook. But because other markets offer better value, Ireland has dropped from fourth most appealing to fifth in a survey which ranks the UK as first.
When asked to identify deterrents, 58pc cited rent caps and 17pc cited political interference.
That caused the Cushman analysts to say: “If Ireland is to harvest the private sector capital to fund its longer-term housing needs, then a more flexible approach to rent regulation is needed.
“Allowing rent caps to apply to tenancies rather than properties would make a meaningful difference to the prospects for further international investment in Ireland.
“In addition, allowing rents to increase in line with inflation [rather than the lower of 2pc per annum or HICP inflation rates] could not only support further international investment but also make it more likely that all investors, big and small, reinvest in their properties, thereby improving the quality of Ireland’s housing stock.
“Investor interest is almost exclusively focused on the Dublin market with very few investors looking at markets such as Cork or Galway. Size and liquidity considerations have likely influenced the responses here.”
The agent calls for supports and incentives to bridge viability gaps as these could make a difference, especially in the delivery of housing into the private rental sector.
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