One of the first Irish new build forward sales was the Neptune building by Cosgrave’s in the third quarter of 2016. This was a multi-family PRS investment and has helped expand the Irish market. The market has expanded in a large amount due to capital for securing investments, the opportunities for acquisitions, and expected returns. All of these things focus on quality and ESG. It is important to look at Dublin’s growth potential for years to come.
The market in Ireland has followed international trends which consist of investing in “beds and living” asset classes. These assets include student accommodations, multi-family, single family, affordable housing, and senior living. At a time, these assets were alternative investment sectors, but over the past few years multiple investors have raised capital to target living spaces. The investors who have raised this capital are known as “blue-chip” investors, and they do this on a global basis.
The way this capital is deployed depends on the investor, but most focus on the subsectors of multi-families. It looks like investors will target this for years to come as well. A problem with all this is that the pandemic has impacted operation and income streams for student living. However, it looks like the move to online learning has rebalanced towards a split between on and off campus school. This allows providers to give the fun part of college life and the affordable accommodation required.
With challenges from housing, there has been an increasing number of people who wish to live in well-serviced and connected urban locations at costs they can afford. The social and affordable housing sectors are areas of focus for most national and local governments all over Europe. The Irish government’s current strategy is positive and there is looking to be great number of investments in this sector over the next few years. The Land Development Agency is an integral part of the Irish government’s current strategy and its views on investment. These sectors are allowing opportunities for private capital to be involved, but there is a holdback from policy makers and stakeholders towards opening windows for public and private partnership.
Irish social housing providers are ready for expansion and have the ability to do this. This will be very important for housing investment in the investment sector of Ireland, and specifically Dublin. Dublin has an increasing amount of growth potential, and it will be used for the next few years to great avail.
Written by John Spurrier, Mortgage Analyst for Online Application