{"id":305939,"date":"2026-02-19T10:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/305939\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T10:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:37:08","slug":"ireland-back-on-radar-for-international-housing-investors-says-ires-reit-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/305939\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland \u2018back on radar\u2019 for international housing investors, says Ires Reit boss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Eddie Byrne has predicted that the changes to the rent regime that are being introduced by the Government, coupled with the increased amount of investment by the State in the residential property sector, will have a positive impact on housing supply.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cWe\u2019re going to make significant inroads,\u201d he said, pointing out that housing shortages are \u201ca problem all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Ires Reit owns about 3,600 units, mostly apartments, with the bulk of those located in Dublin. Its occupancy rate is virtually 100pc. Its portfolio is valued at \u20ac1.24bn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cAny conversations we have had with large, international capital providers \u2013 sovereign wealth funds and large insurance companies \u2013 those institutions have said Ireland is back on the radar for investing again under the new rent regulations,\u201d Mr Byrne said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cTo me, that\u2019s a very significant indicator of whether this suite of regulations is helpful or not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">He pointed out that these are \u201clong-term, patient investors who like low-risk investments\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cThat\u2019s exactly the kind of capital that we want to come into Ireland to help in terms of alleviating the housing crisis,\u201d said Mr Byrne.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The new rules introduce six-year tenancies, and permit landlords to re-set rents for new tenancies to the market rate where the previous rent was below market level. Thereafter, rent increases will be capped at the lower of the rate of inflation according to the consumer price index, or 2pc.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The Ires Reit boss also wants to see proposed changes to building design requirements for apartments implemented. The Government\u2019s plans are currently being challenged before the courts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cWe need more one-beds, because the number of people choosing to live on their own is significantly greater than what we can accommodate, and three-bed [apartments] are not economical,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Mr Byrne was speaking as Ires Reit released preliminary full-year results, which were positively viewed by analysts. Adjusted net earnings rose 7.4pc to \u20ac32.8m, while its net rental income was \u20ac66.7m, a 1.9pc increase.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">It made a pre-tax profit of \u20ac49.8m as it benefited from a \u20ac17m revaluation gain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Ires Reit is currently engaged in a disposal programme to sell 315 units. In 2025, it sold 41 units with a net book value of \u20ac13m and achieved a more than 25pc premium on sales. A total of 82 units had been sold under the programme by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Shares in Ires Reit have languished in recent years. On Thursday morning they were trading at \u20ac1.09, while the company has a net asset value per share of almost \u20ac1.32.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cDo I think the share price is an accurate reflection of the business? Absolutely not,\u201d said Mr Byrne. \u201cI think where it has been for the last number of years was absolutely a reflection of the rent regulation as it was then.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">&#8220;It was reflected in our share price and in the amount of new development starts in Ireland and Dublin. The rent regulations strangled development and our business is probably just the most visible part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eddie Byrne has predicted that the changes to the rent regime that are being introduced by the Government,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,10099,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-305939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-john-mulligan","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}