Nama land with potential for 86,145 homes sold since 2011, but fewer than 11,000 built

Nama has sold 5,478 hectares of land since 2011 with a potential for 86,145 homes to be developed on it but to date fewer than 11,000 units have been built, new figures from the Department of Finance show.

The bulk of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) land and potential residential units were in Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath, Galway and Louth.

Cork County Council saw the biggest area of land sold through Nama disposals (1,270 hectares) with a potential for 11,669 residential units.

Some 316 hectares with a potential for 11,792 units were sold in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown while Dublin City Council accounted for 168 hectares of Nama land sales with a potential for 11,240 units.

Inside TV chef Clodagh McKenna’s new compact kitchen: why big isn’t always better

---

Can we finally say goodbye to shaming women for letting their hair go grey?

---

100 great restaurants and places to eat around Ireland this summer

---

Robert De Niro’s raging at Trump outside courthouse was an extraordinary moment in American public life

---

Fingal County Council accounted for 526 hectares with a potential for 9,890 residential units while Meath County Council accounted for 568 hectares with a potential for 8,679 units.

The figures provided by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe in response to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty show the “potential long-term residential unit capacity” across all Nama sites sold amounted to 86,145 units. However, to date just 10,883 units have been built on these sites.

The estimate of potential units was based on planning permission where a suitable permission was granted or estimates from planning consultants until the time Nama’s security over the property was sold.

Mr Donohoe said the bulk of the land was sold by Nama debtors or receivers or through loan sales and that 4,651 hectares (84 per cent) had no planning for residential development at the time of sale.

A turbulent recovery for tourism and air travel

Listen | 35:24

Mr Doherty, however, said the fact that over 80 per cent of the Nama land was still undeveloped “in the middle of housing crisis” was a scandal.

He said most of the Nama land was sold to developers four or more years ago, suggesting many have been hoarding it while values rise.

“The Government needs to intervene with a penal tax for zoned land which will bring this type of land into use or at least release it on to the market,” Mr Doherty said.

The Government is planning to introduce a new zoned land tax to encourage the construction of housing. The tax, which will replace the existing vacant site levy, will target any unused land zoned and serviced for housing and the rate will be set at 3 per cent. But Mr Doherty said the proposed rate was too low.

Mr Donohoe noted that during 2010-2013, there were relatively few development land sales, loan sales or refinances by Nama debtors.

“There was weak market demand for Irish development land due to declining residential property prices, and many debtors were not in a financial position to refinance their loans,” he said.

“Following the initial recovery in house prices (after the 2010-2013 period), it became commercially viable in some areas for developers to commence building and selling residential units,” he said, noting Nama commenced funding residential projects in large urban areas from 2014.

Nama was set up in the wake of the financial crisis in 2009 to purge the State’s banks of more than €70 billion of risky commercial property loans. The agency paid more than €30 billion for the assets, going on to sell loans and real estate to some of the world’s biggest investors.