The measures will apply to all houses in the State, however, apartments will be excluded.
A plan that will see bulk purchases of ten or more houses being subject to 10% stamp duty has been approved by Government without a vote in the Dáil on Wednesday.
The Cabinet already agreed to the measure which was passed this evening earlier in the week.
The measures will apply to all houses in the State, however, apartments will be excluded as a Sinn Fein amendment to include apartments in the new stamp duty rules was also voted down by Government.
A second motion from Sinn Fein to increase the stamp duty to 17% was also defeated. A third Sinn Fein motion to charge REITs capital gains and corporation tax was also defeated on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said that the move is intended to "provide a very significant disincentive" for investment funds.
"This is a measure that focuses on the purchase of houses, and we are doing this because of a recognition that apartment developers, in particular, do face significant viability challenges at the time", he said.
Guidelines will soon be issued to local authorities and there will be exemptions for local authorities and approved housing bodies.
Donohoe said that the new measures would come into effect from midnight on Thursday 20 May.
The Affordable Housing Bill will also be amended to allow local authorities to grant planning permission, provided that a percentage of homes are reserved for owner-occupiers.
The measures come as the Government came under fire last month after an estate of 112 houses in Kildare was bought by an institutional investor.
