While the Government’s housing plan has been welcomed on all sides, the IPAV is taking a different tack. It is sounding a cautionary note to the Government not to discourage home ownership while continuing to support the development of the rental market. This could be closing the stable door after the horse has bolted given that a vast number of apartment blocks have been sold off in recent years to overseas companies who can’t believe their luck.
Top of the list is the one and only Kennedy Wilson which snapped up most of the bargains when Nama started flogging distressed property, not even considering selling them on an individual basis to young people who would have jumped at the opportunity to buy at the same discounted rates. Kennedy Wilson is now the largest single owner of apartments in the capital, with no less than 1,138 high-quality units in some of the city's best developments including the high-profile Altro Vetro at Grand Canal Dock, The Alliance on the old Gasworks site in Ringsend and Clancy Barracks beside the Phoenix Park.
The company paid €82 million for the 13-acre barracks site which can accommodate a total of 800 units. Kennedy Wilson is an old hand at this business having amassed about 25,000 apartments in the US, UK and Japan.
IPAV chief executive Pat Davitt doesn't want to see more Kennedy Wilson buying campaigns and has urged the Government to "tread with caution when it comes to major investment funds being the main source of rental properties." Hear hear.
