Budget 2026 reduced VAT on the sale of new apartments from 13.5% to 9%. Photograph: Getty
Kick-starting the construction of apartments across Ireland appears to have been the main aim of the housing measures in Budget 2026.
The VAT on the sale of new apartments was reduced from 13.5 per cent to 9 per cent. There were also reductions, and in some cases exemptions, on corporation tax involved in the building of new apartments, and the rental profits of cost-rental schemes.
Alongside these measures there was a focus on increasing the capital investment in infrastructure to support new homes, as well as other interventions to tackle dereliction and the regeneration of existing housing stock.
It was a gamble for the Government to take because it meant there was little left over to put money back in the pockets of the ordinary homebuyer and renter.
But will it work to help ease the housing crisis in the long term? We’ve asked the experts for their view.
[ Will the budget solve the housing crisis?Opens in new window ]
The builder
Conor O’Connell, Construction Industry Federation
Conor O'Connell. Photograph: LinkedIn
“There’s no one silver bullet,” says Conor O’Connell, director of housing and planning with the Constructio
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