CENTRAL BANK BOSS Gabriel Makhlouf has advised the government to take stock of their current interventions in the housing market before pursuing ideas such as easing lending rules for property developers. 

The Irish Independent this morning reported that the Minister for Housing James Browne is considering alterations to fiscal rules for developers to incentivise the completion of apartment buildings.

It would see developers spending less and borrowing more so that the number of apartment buildings completed in Ireland increase, as the minister has reportedly accepted that delivery of new units has collapsed.

A unexpected shortfall in the number of apartments being completed was what largely contributed to the government’s failure to reach its housing target last year, as construction rates dropped dramatically below expectations in the final quarter of 2024.

Speaking to reporters today, Makhlouf said government has already made a range of increased interventions in the Irish housing market and it is his “very strong” and “basic” advice is to let the those measures play out before introducing new ones.

While the Governor of the state’s banking watchdog said it was “obviously” up to government to decide what policies to introduce or not, his advice is to hold off on making any major interventions for the time being.

“My very strong advice to government is that there are many interventions that they have already made and are making in the housing market,” he said.

“My advice would be to take stock of all of those interventions, make sure they’re all mutually supportive of each other, before introducing new ones. That’s a basic piece of advice.”

Makhlouf said he has not seen any detailed government plans and would not comment on speculation of what the minister or coalition might do. He added, however, that the state’s banks are “well capitalised” and have the capacity to lend to developers.

Gabriel Makhlouf told reporters that he has not seen detailed government plans, but would advise the minister to hold off from introducing any new measures for now. Alamy Alamy

Asked whether he believes the government’s policy interventions in the housing market – such as grants for first-time buyers, payment assistance schemes and other financial subsidies – are working, Makhlouf said he was “conscious” that there has been many.

“My advice to people who want to introduce new [policies] is to make sure that what you’ve got going, you know what it is achieving and you don’t do the wrong thing,” he said.

He added that he outlined this view to the minister in a letter last month, and told Browne to prioritise government time into making sure land is available for development of housing and infrastructure.

Makhlouf cited a report the Central Bank published in September where it outlined that the “number one issue” facing the market is planning and called for the implementation of new, quicker frameworks.

The report said the “complex and protracted” planning framework in Ireland increases costs for housing and infrastructure construction and would be a roadblock to meet the 52,000 homes the Central Bank estimates need to be built each year, until 2050, to meet demand. 

“I would put all my energies at whatever levels of government and whatever levels in industry to making sure that planning rules are being implemented in a way that supports the construction of housing,” Makhlouf said today.