Bidding process for buying homes in Ireland could be overhauled after expert process

The bidding process for homes in Ireland could be overhauled as the Government examines new ways to bring down the price of housing and make the buying process less difficult, it has emerged.

A new expert group has been set up to examine the process around buying a house including bidding and conveyance.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar highlighted the Scottish model of bidding where a series of closed bids are made, and the highest bidder secures the property.

“I genuinely don’t know what the recommendations will be of the expert group, I don’t want to tell them what to recommend,” he said.

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“They will examine the evidence, they will hear people’s stories. But I know in Scotland they have a different system of bidding, it is a closed bid where a person puts in their bid once and the highest bidder gets the house. I am not saying it is the best thing to do, it might not be, but at least it gets away from that stress a lot of people experience several times. By the time they actually get to buy a house, they were outbid a few times and it drags on for weeks.”

The Fine Gael leader said that the expert group will “examine the whole process around purchasing a house”.

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“It goes smoothly for some, but we all know so many people who have been taken by surprise and frustrated and face lots of delays because of all the different various steps along the way when it comes to building a house. This includes the bidding process, conveyancing and probate. I think there are a couple of changes we can make in these areas. I look forward to seeing that group’s recommendations.”

Giving an overall update on the Government’s Housing for All plan, Mr Varadkar said he believes “real progress is being made” including around the delivery of 30,000 homes last year.

“You can only ramp up homebuilding so quickly, unless of course you don’t want to build houses properly. And I think we’ve had enough of that. We are now building social housing at a rate that we haven’t seen since the 1970s. I can now confidently say that the 2020s will be a record decade for the construction of new social and public housing since the foundation of the State.”

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien did not reveal how many social and affordable homes have been delivered in the first three quarters of the year, despite launching a quarter three report.

The target for new build social homes this year is 9,100 and the target for new affordable homes is 3,500. He said, however, that the Government will exceed the overall target set in the Housing for All plan for this year, which is 29,000 new homes.

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Asked if the plan too focused on the private housing sector, Mr O’Brien said the Government was investing more than ever in social homes. Last year, some 7,500 new social homes were built, out of a target of 9,100. Mr O’Brien said the “pipeline is strong” but that the Government will focus on completions for the last quarter.

Mr Varadkar also addressed the homeless crisis and said the Government does not view it as acceptable.

“While there is much to be positive about, I’m very aware that this doesn’t paint the full picture. And despite our best efforts, the number of people in emergency accommodation continues to rise. I want to restate that we don’t regard this to be acceptable. So we have increased the homeless budget for next year and are focusing on people to avoid homelessness in the first place and exit emergency accommodation as quickly as possible if they need it. The vast majority do within six to 12 months,” he said.