Delivering social, affordable and cost-rental housing in Ireland

On Thursday 1 February, Ogier's Real Estate team in Ireland hosted an informative breakfast briefing at our offices in Dublin to discuss the topic of Housing Opportunities 2024 in Ireland.

Real estate partner, Gavin Fitzgerald, hosted the event and moderated a panel of speakers from The Housing Agency, one of Ireland's largest national approved housing bodies and Deloitte. Some of the country's most influential home builders, funders, investors and agents were in attendance and the event was notably highly interactive.

The core focus of the conversation surrounded the rapid delivery of social, affordable and cost-rental housing in Ireland. A speaker from the Housing Agency offered an educational overview of the various Governmental Schemes available to both developers and purchasers. It is beyond any doubt that the affordable housing sector is the number one growth area in Irish Housing and it is anticipated that it will continue to lead the activity space in residential real estate in the short term. It was clear from listening to the speakers on the panel that the Irish Government is not equipped to deliver the scale of housing needed without the input of the private sector.

In that regard, it was useful for Ogier's funding and development clients to better understand the Irish Government's funding mechanisms and their focus on aligning with delivery partners. The Housing Agency acknowledged that there is a learning curve for international investors in navigating the development funding solutions and this will be a core focus of the Agency for 2024.

Additionally, it was evident that Ireland remains an attractive proposition for foreign investment. A strong economy coupled with an under-supply of housing and a dearth of traditional banking solutions means that there is a huge demand for borrowers seeking equity type solutions. There are only a small number of platforms offering such equity solutions in Ireland and it is thought that there could be significant appetite amongst high net-worth individuals and family offices to supply this side of the market.

Ogier's Real Estate team represent some of Ireland's leading developers, funders and investors and they are very active in the development land market. If you would like to hear more about the Irish Housing Market, please contact Gavin Fitzgerald at gavin.fitzgerald@ogier.com

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Ogier is a professional services firm with the knowledge and expertise to handle the most demanding and complex transactions and provide expert, efficient and cost-effective services to all our clients. We regularly win awards for the quality of our client service, our work and our people.

Disclaimer

This client briefing has been prepared for clients and professional associates of Ogier. The information and expressions of opinion which it contains are not intended to be a comprehensive study or to provide legal advice and should not be treated as a substitute for specific advice concerning individual situations.

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