New data has shown that land accounts for 21% of inheritances or gifts among Irish households.
The Intergenerational Transfer of Wealth survey, carried out by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), found that 36% of all Irish households have received at least one inheritance or substantial gift at some point, with 30% having received an inheritance and 9% having received a gift.
This includes not just land but various types of assets.
Of all Irish households, 21% received money; 8% received their home; 7% received a dwelling other than their home; 7% received land; 1% received business, securities and shares, as well as life insurance and valuables; and 1% received vehicles or other assets.
Among only those households that received an inheritance or gift, 21% received land. This compared to 57% of households who received money; 27% who received the household’s main residence; and 22% who inherited another dwelling.
63% of the wealthiest 20% of households in the country have received an intergenerational transfer at some point, compared with 16% of households among the least wealthy 20%.
Households were most likely to receive intergenerational wealth transfers from their parents, with 70% of those who had received a transfer having inherited it from, or been gifted it from, their parents.
The survey found that land was the asset transfer type with the highest value, with median current value of land standing at €176,300 per recipient households. This compares to the median value for all types of assets transferred, which was €80,200 per recipient household.
21% of households said they were expecting to receive an inheritance or gift at some point in the future, with younger households and those with higher education more likely to say they were expecting a transfer of some sort.
Also, households with debt were twice as likely to say they were expecting a future transfer compared to those without debt.
Transfers of homes and land were the most common type of assets transferred in the northern and western region. In the southern and eastern region and midlands region, the most common type of asset transferred was money.
As land is the most valuable type of transfer, this meant that the northern and western region saw the highest regional value of transfers, at a median figure of €103,600.
The survey results noted that there was a “clear positive trajectory in the likelihood” of receiving a transfer of land and non-main dwelling residences for wealthier households.