Sunday Property Round-Up: April 7th, 2019

 

 

If you missed last week’s round-up, which was the busiest of the quarter, you can catch up here: https://propertydistrict.ie/category/sunday-property-review/

 

Before we get stuck into the general property news of the week, below are a few local and international stories that might be of particular interest…

 

 

 

 

  • On Wednesday I had the great fortune to chair the ‘Impact of Immersive Technologies on Construction’ CitA Technology Trend Event and present the use cases for Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality across the built environment, alongside the talented Sean Roche of D3D and the man driving innovation across Dublin City Council, Jamie Cudden. Presentations available from CitA (Construction IT Alliance).

 

 

Executive Summit 2019 (L-R): John O’Connor, Head of the Irish Housing Agency; Michael O’Flynn, CEO of O’Flynn Group; Karen Muldowney, Head of business development Shapoorji Pallonji; Carol Tallon, CEO of Property District

 

 

 

 

  • Here’s an interesting approach: Michelle Ho proposes retrofitting housing estates to densify cities https://www.dezeen.com/2019/04/05/michelle-ho-retrofitting-housing-estates-architecture-movie/

 

 

 

 

As always, you might let me know if I have missed out on any relevant property news by emailing  carol@caroltallon.com.

 

(Apologies in advance for any typos, it’s difficult to get good help on a Sunday. Also, I use voice to text dictation so just sound out anything that really doesn’t make sense in a strong rural accent and that should help!)

 

Sunday Listen

 

#PropertyMatters Ireland’s First Weekly Property Radio Show (& Podcast!):

  Ireland’s first weekly property radio show, Property Matters, launched In January 2019 on Dublin South FM 93.9 and is now available internationally via iTunes and Spotify podcast (@iPropertyRadio). Seasoned political journalist and broadcaster, Bryan Fox, and I (Carol Tallon) team up to deliver 60 minutes of industry chat with guests from the areas of planning, construction, property and proptech.

This week we were joined by Garry Connolly of Host in Ireland to breakdown the significant potential of the data centre sector in Ireland; Joe McGinley of Iconic Offices talked about the prevailing coworking trend and the importance of building community (and great design!); Will O’Reilly of Domavue joined us to talk about the rise of virtual reality or VR the Irish property market.

 

*Listen back to all #PropertyMatters episodes here: https://anchor.fm/ipropertyradio

 

Email the Property Matters team at hello@iPropertyRadio.com

 

 

PLACEMAKING

Public Consultation and Community Engagement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*PLACEengage: The future of speedy, successful placemaking for property developers is here – Property developers and project owners ready Public Consultation are encouraged to contact the PLACEengage team for full details*

 

 

 

Other Property News

 

  • The lead story in the Sunday Independent carries the headline ‘Property Tax: The new trap: Fears State pension hike will trigger first-time charges’. This comes as the changes/new valuations due to impact property tax have been deferred but exemption thresholds have not changed, which means that new pension increases will push many over the current exemption thresholds – it seems inconceivable that this will not be rectified before the local elections… This story is also covered by Michael Brennan in The Sunday Business Post today.

 

  • Paschal Donohoe has an op-ed in the Independent headed ‘Sinn Fein’s ‘no consent’ Bill will cause nothing but more harm’. Listeners of Property Matters (iPropertyRadio.com) will have heard my co-host Bryan Fox cover this Bill and its likely impact on the arrears situation.

 

  • Pat Davitt, chief executive of IPAV has an excellent article in the Independent today: ‘Paying rent in retirement is a train wreck waiting to happen’. I don’t always agree with the IPAV party line but this is the most sensible setting out of the current rental situation that I have read to date. Ireland has not introduced a viable income-generating investment alternative for people who wish to be lifetime renters as we see in other jurisdictions.

 

  • The lead business story in the Independent today is the planning approval of the Tara Street tower (above). In the same supplement, Michael Cogley reports that the State is involved in  “over half” of new housing being delivered. That includes Nama, AHB’s and local authorities, either through funding, building or purchasing.

 

  • Samantha McCaughren writes that ‘Appetite for building materials break-ups returns focus to CRH’ and Cairn Homes has received planning to build 377 apartments on Griffith Avenue.

 

  • Colin Coyle reports a less positive take on the Tara Street tower go-ahead on page 3 of The Sunday Times today.

 

  • In the Business section of the Times, Brian Carey writes that there is ‘No wiggle room for builders and rental investors’, describing the institutional landlords as the “new ogre” of the property sector (this might explain the need for the new PR strategy for this sector); also, Gavin Daly reports that Cairn Homes plans 1,100 new homes across Dublin and Wicklow, while Emma Maye has received approval for two four-storey apartment blocks 500m from Foxrock Village.

 

  • In the Property supplement of The Sunday Business Post, there is an interesting feature on the Dublin office market, as leases for the first three months of 2019 are up 66% on the same period in 2018. On the other hand, Aoife Brennan reports that property investment in down 42% for the same period.

 

  • The CIS Round-Up reports the following: Bartra seeking approval for 80 million euro scheme in Dublin 24; Victoria Homes has submitted plans to An Bord Pleanala for 30 houses and 173 apartments at Glenamuck Road in Dublin 18; and John Sisk & Son has been appointed main contractor for the 120 million euro Social Housing PPP Bundle 1 (Old Nangor Road/Naas/Ayrfield/Finglas/Dunleer/Wicklow) – works due to start on site in May.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Dublin experiences one of greatest leaps in house prices since 2013 https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/dublin-experiences-one-of-greatest-leaps-in-house-prices-since-2013-1.3849506?mode=amp

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • House prices up 72% in Cork city since low point of the recession https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/House-prices-up-72-in-Cork-city-since-low-point-of-the-recession-648b6b2b-3d83-4ddf-a2af-8c20b19ca159-ds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Also, important news: Landlords who end tenancy to sell must sign contracts within nine months https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/landlords-who-end-tenancy-to-sell-must-sign-contracts-within-nine-months-1.3849873?mode=amp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Sisk seals £184m Birmingham skyscraper deal | Construction Enquirer https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/01/sisk-wins-183m-birmingham-residential-skyscraper/

 

 

  • UAE construction market said to be worth over $1trn https://www.arabianbusiness.com/construction/416868-284bn-construction-projects-said-to-on-hold-in-the-uae

 

Agile Agent – Digital Transformation for Independent Estate Agents

 

 

To get involved and for free Proptech Prompts, please

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Proptech and Construction Innovation

 

 

 

 

  • Do WeWork’s Troubles Signal Co-Working Spaces Are a Bubble? https://insights.dice.com/2019/03/27/wework-troubles-co-working-bubble/amp/

 

  • Want Your Seed-Stage Startup to Be Fundable? Check These 4 Boxes. https://www.entrepreneur.com/amphtml/331476

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Bahrain construction news: Bahrain’s first proptech firm launched as Estater app unveiled – Products & Services – Construction Week Online https://www.constructionweekonline.com/products-services/180626-bahrains-first-proptech-firm-launched-as-estater-app-unveiled

 

 

  • One of Silicon Valley’s most famous VC firms says it will no longer be a VC firm — here’s why https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/04/02/andreessen-horowitz-says-it-will-no-longer-be-a-venture-capital-firm.html

 

 

 

 

New Facebook Group for Irish Property Buyers & Investors

Crowd-sourcing answers topical property questions:

 

As many of you might know, my annual property book The Irish Property Buyers’ Handbook (since 2011) was rebranded in 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.

From 2019, the publishers and I want to ensure the content remains topical and we are doing this by crowd-sourcing home buyer and investor queries, with crowd-sourced and editorial team answers. Join the Facebook Group here to contribute: https://www.facebook.com/groups/IrishPropertyBuyers/

 

 

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