Tax cuts for individual landlords 'needs to be looked at' in Budget 2025, says Housing Minister
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Landlords should get further tax cuts in the upcoming budget, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has said.
Mr O’Brien said efforts were made last year to reduce the “undue” tax burden for individual landlords and that he would be pushing for further reductions in Budget 2025, which will be announced on October 1. The tax relief, introduced in the last budget, allows landlords to claim back up to €600 in the first year.
“We’ve good landlords out there, good individual landlords. The tax burden for them has been lessened, thankfully, because of the measures we brought in last year,” Mr O’Brien said. “I think that needs to be looked at again this year.”
He said that moves to further reduce the tax burden on landlords must be done in conjunction with measures to support renters, citing the existing €750 renters tax credit.
“I’d like to see that move towards €1,000, at least, in the budget. That will mean that per renter, two people sharing would get €2,000 tax credit which is a very significant amount to help reduce the cost.”
Mr O’Brien has met with Finance Minister Jack Chambers on the matter several times, saying that the new minister has been “very supportive”.
“I think what was really important last year in the work that we did with Michael McGrath at the time was to get the principal. In my view, there was an undue tax burden, a heavier tax burden than there should be, particularly for individual landlords,” he said.
In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr O’Brien was asked if he would consider reinstating Section 23 tax breaks to encourage builders and developers to renovate and let out properties.
Earlier this month, property auctioneers called on the Government to reintroduce the tax breaks to incentivise investment in the property market. The relief itself was contingent on properties being kept on the rental market for 10 years.
In response, Mr O’Brien said the country needed more rental properties and that he would be open to any measures to provide further supply.
“I’m open to looking at any measures that help to activate and to provide more supply. I’m not suggesting that would be something to be done in this budget.”
The Housing Minister said that he was currently focused on increasing the number of cost-rental homes that are delivered, describing these as secure tenure with rents below market rates.
While Taoiseach Simon Harris has floated the use of AIB share sales to fund further housebuilding, Mr O’Brien pushed back slightly, saying that any such decision would need to be made by the Government as a collective. “The Taoiseach himself has been very strong on the importance of collective decisions around Cabinet,” he said.
Pressed if he believed the Taoiseach had overreached on the matter, Mr O’Brien said: “No. I’m just saying that he himself has said that, as do I, believe that the Cabinet acts as a collective. These types of decisions will be made by Cabinet.”