Below is a weekly catch-up on the property stories that caught my attention.  As always, please do let me know if I have missed out on any interesting property news by emailing  carol@caroltallon.com.

In terms of the broadsheets, The Sunday Business Post is the one to pick up today for the most comprehensive housing market coverage.  .

 

Sunday Read

 

Your Sunday Read today is more of a ‘Sunday sit-back and watch’:

VIDEO: Dublin area dubbed ‘the most connected district in the world’ – Independent.ie
Convened by the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard, the Smart City Innovation Accelerator gathered one of the largest groups of city CTOs in Dublin’s Smart Docklands District today.

https://www.independent.ie/videos/video-dublin-area-dubbed-the-most-connected-district-in-the-world-36599239.html

 

 

Trending Property Stories

• The big story of the week (and year!) is Project Ireland 2040, the National Planning Framework (NPF) and, most importantly, the 10-year, €115bn National Capital Plan launched earlier this week. The Irish Times ran the most comprehensive piece – Project Ireland 2040: the infrastructure plan’s main points; Two plans to set out infrastructure priorities and plan regional development:  https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/project-ireland-2040-the-infrastructure-plan-s-main-points-1.3394625

 

• One of the more interesting commentary pieces in response to the National Capital Plan was: Key labour shortages will have to be fixed if the Government’s €115bn National Development Plan is to be successful, the construction industry has warned: https://www-irishtimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/labour-shortages-and-inflation-threaten-development-plan-1.3395267?mode=amp

 

• And some potentially good news for house-hunters and investors in Dublin:  ‘Plans for Dublin’s Metro North have been revised with the hopes they will unlock large tracts of land for housing’ : https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/report-major-housing-projects-included-in-dublins-metro-north-plans-828182.html

 

• Before the launch, Dublin Inquirer ran an article – with a very different perspective – entitled ‘OUR HOUSING POLICY IS BUILT ON A FALSE AND DANGEROUS PREMISE’: https://www.dublininquirer.com/2018/02/14/mick-michelle-and-anna-our-housing-policy-is-built-on-a-false-and-dangerous-premise/

 

• Ireland 2040: Promise to restart projects stalled in downturn: https://amp-irishexaminer-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.irishexaminer.com/ireland/ireland-2040-promise-to-restart-projects-stalled-in-downturn-467264.html

 

• Finally, if you haven’t read enough of this topic, page 5 of the business section of the Sunday Independent today there is an excellent piece entitled ‘ Developing Dublin: Is the capital city getting what it deserves?’

 

Other property news

 

Any other week this would be the main story, however,  a week is a long time in politics – especially when those politicians get involved in housing: The Daft.ie rental report for Q4 2017 issued earlier this week there was very little good news for Dublin tenants.  You can link to the highlights here and to a discussion I had with Ciara Kelly on her Lunchtime show on  Newstalk: http://caroltallon.com/newstalkfm-dublins-rental-crisis/ 

 

 

 

• The Sunday Business Post has a front feature story in the business section about Harland and Wolff that is well worth a read.

 

• First look: New Dublin hotel fully powered by underground river: What claims to be ‘Europe’s first sustainable hotel’ opens on Harcourt Street: https://www-irishtimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/ireland/first-look-new-dublin-hotel-fully-powered-by-underground-river-1.3393798?mode=amp

 

 

• New figures from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland indicate that construction tender prices will rise by 7% this year, bringing prices back up to 2008 levels: https://www-rte-ie.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.rte.ie/amp/941410

 

 

Industry happenings

 

• Last week I included an opinion piece from David McWilliams suggesting that Dublin Port could (or should) be moved to a less prime residential location, so I thought it would be interesting to include this rebuttal from the head of Dublin Port: DAVID MCWILLIAMS IDEA OF MOVING DUBLIN PORT MAKES NO SENSE SAYS EAMONN O’REILLY OF DUBLIN PORT: http://www.dublinport.ie/news/david-mcwilliams-idea-moving-dublin-port-makes-no-sense-says-eamonn-oreilly-dublin-port/

 

• Kennedy Wilson Leases Remaining 52,900 sq ft of Office Space at The Chase in Dublin, Ireland: Deal brings Kennedy Wilson’s total Dublin office occupancy to 98%: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180212005357/en/Kennedy-Wilson-Leases-Remaining-52900-sq-ft

 

 

Proptech

 

• In case you missed my synopsis of James Dearsley and Eddie Holmes’ guest Q&A at the Dublin proptech meet-up last week you can catch-up here (FYI, there is a stark warning for traditional estate agents…): http://prop-tech.ie/digital-transformation-property-industry-proptech-estate-agents-ireland/

 

• Forbes Fintech 50 2018: The Future Of Real Estate Investment And Finance: https://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2018/02/13/forbes-fintech-50-2018-the-future-of-real-estate-investment-and-finance/#7b9d71df67ed

 

 

• Rise of the data protection officer, the hottest tech ticket in town – Independent.ie: https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/gdpr/rise-of-the-data-protection-officer-the-hottest-tech-ticket-in-town-36603021.html

 

 

• *FINAL WEEK TO BOOK: We are finalising numbers (and group rates) for any Irish innovators, investors and construction/property professionals heading over to Future: Proptech 2018 in London this May: https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/8/futureproptech-2018–conference-on-industry-technology-confirmed. Email news@proptech.ie for bookings.

 

 

To keep up-to-date on all things tech and innovation for the planning, construction and property industries, head over to http://www.prop-tech.ie, the national resource website for innovators, investors and mentors or email news@proptech.ie .

Property Insiders Guide

 

As many of you might know, my annual property book The Irish Property Buyers’ Handbook (since 2011) has undergone a rebrand for 2018 and will now appear as part of The Property Insider series, published by Oak Tree Press, the first three titles are now published and available here.

 

 

(Finally, as always, apologies for any typos, it’s difficult to get good help on a Sunday!)