Although still weeks away, pressure is already being applied for more or extended measures to be introduced in Budget 2027 to help households buy homes and the property industry build and sell them more profitably.

Stamp duty is, as always, in the crosshairs. The Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers wants the purchase of second-hand homes by first-time buyers exempt from this tax.

In April, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Government would look at measures to “alleviate the pressures on first-time buyers, particularly in regard to the application of stamp duty”. In May, Minister for Finance Simon Harris said he was not considering removing stamp duty for first-time buyers, adding that “the last thing we need to do … is inject any uncertainty into the housing market”. It appears the only certainty is uncertainty.

With a shedsit load of chutzpah and no sense of irony, lobbyists’ Irish Institutional Property’s Budget 2027 submission had eight “asks”, one of which was – quite understandably – for “tax certainty”, while the next five argued for changes to the property tax regime.

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Removing stamp duty for first-time buyers of new or second-hand homes will simply leave potential purchasers with more money in their pockets to spend, which will lead to rising house prices and ultimately do nothing to improve housing affordability.

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