Unlike last week, this has been a relatively quiet week in terms of property and industry news. If you missed last week’s Sunday Property Round-Up, which was our busiest to date, you can catch up here: https://propertydistrict.ie/commercial-property-news/
- Before we get started today, I need to pass on my CONGRATULATIONS to one of the most recognisable names in Irish property, Kinsella Estates in Carnew and Gorey! The agency is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and, from all the Property District team, we wish them another half century of successful service: https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/gorey-guardian/20181127/281998968513980
- Also, it would be entirely remiss of me to curate a Property Round-up without noting that a protest to highlight the housing crisis has taken place in Dublin City centre this weekend with up to 10,000 people estimated to have taken part. As an industry, it is time to listen to the people: https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2018/1201/1014521-housing-protest/
- And, speaking of listening to the people…New Chief People officer at Bank of Ireland: ‘Bank of Ireland has appointed Matt Elliott to the role of Chief People Officer at the lender.’ https://www.rte.ie/amp/1013944/
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 Read
PropTech in Ireland 2018 via FUTURE:PropTech
“The Irish proptech scene is nowhere close to coming of age, however, after a painful start, it’s first teeth are clearly visible. It’s incredibly exciting to be a part of this unfolding.”
https://futureproptech.co.uk/blog/overview-of-the-irish-proptech-sector-2018
Placemaking – Public Consultation and Community Engagement
First up, I am delighted to see that our PLACEengage placemaking platform has been shortlisted for the Facilities Management Awards 2019 amongst such illustrious company! www.PLACEengage.com
- [Not so delighted to see this…] Pat Kenny and wife Kathy win battle against apartment plans beside Dublin home https://www.thesun.ie/news/3440491/pat-kenny-wife-kathy-victory-apartment-plans/amp/
- How Europe’s cities are overhauling their docklands | JLL Real Views https://www.jllrealviews.com/trends/development/europes-cities-overhauling-docklands/?utm_source=Linkedin&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=1911323038&utm_campaign=BRANDAM+-+PDS+Brand+Socialbuildings-and-construction
- Call for review of housing strategy in Limerick area amid ‘ad-hoc approach’ claim https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/349871/call-for-review-of-housing-strategy-in-limerick-area-amid-ad-hoc-approach-claim.html
- Long-derelict Limerick site to be developed for housing and commercial use https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/350854/long-derelict-limerick-site-to-be-developed-for-housing-and-commercial-use.html
- All is not lost – the civic plaza at College Green should still go ahead
https://www.thejournal.ie:443/readme/all-is-not-lost-the-civic-plaza-at-college-green-should-still-go-ahead-4350471-Nov2018/ https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/all-is-not-lost-the-civic-plaza-at-college-green-should-still-go-ahead-4350471-Nov2018/
- Urban regeneration fund favours rural towns and cities https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/urban-regeneration-fund-favours-rural-towns-and-cities-1.3710981?mode=amp
- Prism plan is defended by City Hall’s head of planning https://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Prism-plan-is-defended-by-City-Halls-head-of-planning-e5f616d9-e33d-4430-9131-d674c0087f78-ds
Other Property News
- 30,000 empty homes and nowhere to live: inside Dublin’s housing crisis https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/nov/29/empty-dublin-housing-crisis-airbnb-homelessness-landlords
- Brendan Burgess, writing an opinion piece in the Sunday Independent today speaks to home buyers: ‘If you can’t buy a house, blame the Government, not the Central Bank’. While I agree that the Central Bank lending restrictions (90% LTV for FTBs, within 3.5 times income) are not entirely to blame, I’m not sure that all fingers point to Government policy. It is unhelpful to let property consumers believe that there is no personal responsibility or accountability. He does make one excellent point about the disjointedness and lack of cohesion between successive ministers and junior ministers – Ireland needs a cross-party property policy-maker so that long term visions can be agreed upon and executed over time, irrespective of the leadership party o f the day.
- In the business section of the Independent today, Michael Cogley reports that €750m funding, which will be distributed by House Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) is expected to be extended “at least 5%” interest on construction loans. This initiative is expected to finance 6,000 homes. We will wait to see how this unfolds.
- After a presumably-frustrating week on the planning front in Dalkey, Richard Barrett’s Bartra Capital has been given the go-ahead to demolish the guesthouse at 98 Merrion Road, with a view to developing a 20-unit, 5-storey development on the site.
- The lead story in The Sunday Times today confirms that the ‘Report on Anglo trial collapse to stay confidential’. For anyone following this saga, The Sunday Business Post has the most comprehensive coverage today.
- The lead business story by Niall Brady reads ‘Banks bribe house hunters to delay drawing mortgages: Lenders offering up cash and lower rates to avoid breach exemption cap’. This essentially means that the lenders have used up all their discretion so any mortgages that require this discretion or an exemption from Central Bank lending restrictions will need to be pushed out until early 2019.
- Brian Carey, writing his Agenda column takes a differing view; he maintains that the Central Bank lending restrictions “will keep young city-dwellers out of the housing market”.
- Also in the Times today, Activate Capital is set to increase lending by €250m in 2019, this will bring total lending to €550m.
- In The Sunday Business Post today, Jack Horgan-Jones has an interesting article, quoting Kennedy Wilson’s Peter Collins (one of Ireland’s most prolific landlords) as saying that the data on record-high rents is “not accurate” as it refers to new tenancies only i.e. not existing tenancies.
- Michael King has an important feature in the business section of the SBP about, what he refers to as, ‘The great cashback mortgage trap: Like many marketing gimmicks, cashback mortgages aren’t what they’re crack up to be. In fact, even economists might argue they should be banned.” This is definitely worth a read if you are applying for or switching mortgages this year.
- ‘Forget borrowing more, wait for new houses to be built’ – Central Bank chief’s tough message for homebuyers https://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/forget-borrowing-more-wait-for-new-houses-to-be-built-central-bank-chiefs-tough-message-for-homebuyers-37576591.html
- IDA: Housing crisis not unique to Ireland https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/ida-housing-crisis-not-unique-to-ireland-887750.html
- Log cabin housing ‘would set a dangerous precedent’ https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/log-cabin-housing-would-set-a-dangerous-precedent-1.3713304
- Major digital and innovation hub announced for Ballina: https://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/roundup/articles/2018/11/26/4165624-major-digital-and-innovation-hub-announced-for-ballina/https://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/roundup/articles/2018/11/26/4165624-major-digital-and-innovation-hub-announced-for-ballina/
- Bank of Ireland stops offering expat mortgages to Irish diaspora https://www.irishtimes.com/business/personal-finance/bank-of-ireland-stops-offering-expat-mortgages-to-irish-diaspora-1.3710695
- Emigrants returning home facing barriers to housing and social welfare https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/emigrants-returning-home-facing-barriers-to-housing-and-social-welfare-888738.html
- Zoobox Raises €5.5m Funding to Design Eco Tourism Homes Around the World – Construction Network Ireland – Construction Network Ireland http://www.constructionnetworkireland.com/zoobox-raises-e5-5m-funding-design-eco-tourism-homes-around-world/
- I see there is also a great write-up about this innovative company in The Sunday Business Post today – well done and continued success to the Zoobox team! This was actually our featured Sunday Read last week – here it is again for anyone who missed it: Irish start-up wins contract worth nearly €3m to supply pre-fab homes to Canada:
- Hibernia Reit gets green light for €100m plan at Harcourt Square https://www.3dpersonnel.com/blog/2018/11/hibernia-reit-gets-green-light-for-eu100m-plan-at-harcourt-square
- Dublin City Council seeks €400,000 to set up taskforce to crack down on Airbnbs https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/dublin-city-council-seeks-400-000-to-set-up-taskforce-to-crack-down-on-airbnbs-1.3708469?mode=amp
- ‘It’s a very big ask to build it there’: The unlikely case for an ‘airport city’ in the midlands – Fora https://fora.ie/midlands-airport-development-4323383-Nov2018/
- Bank of Ireland pulls plug on non-resident mortgage market https://www.irishtimes.com/business/personal-finance/bank-of-ireland-pulls-plug-on-non-resident-mortgage-market-1.3710695
- Drop in inflation adds to ECB woes as it weighs rate hike https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/drop-in-inflation-adds-to-ecb-woes-as-it-weighs-rate-hike-37583404.html
- Mortgage rules will trap ‘a lost generation’ in rental market, Brokers Ireland claim https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/mortgage-rules-will-trap-a-lost-generation-in-rental-market-brokers-ireland-claim-888574.html
- The property section of the SBP today focuses on not the housing crisis, but the talent crisis. This is something that I have covered here over the past year – usually in a construction context. However, through Property District’s Agile Agent programme of digital transformation for estate agents we know that finding and retaining experienced and licensed property professionals is a problem for all estate agencies, irrespective of whether they are based in cities or rural areas. As part of this feature, there is a property sector salary survey, that might genuinely surprise people…
Agile Agent: 12-month digital transformation programme for independent estate agents and auctioneers across Ireland
Getting Ireland’s property marketplace digital by default
To get involved and for free Proptech Prompts, please
Proptech and Construction Innovation
- Are you an Irish-led or Ireland-based #proptech business? If so, please take five minutes to add or update your details to our internationally-shared listing here: SIGN UP: PROPTECH INNOVATORS and 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 .
- 10 European proptech startups to look out for in 2018 and beyond | EU-Startups https://www.eu-startups.com/2018/11/10-proptech-startups-2018/
- Is Ireland Really A #Startup Nation? https://www.forbes.com/sites/shourjyasanyal/2018/11/27/is-ireland-really-a-startup-nation/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
- Exclusive: Airbnb will start designing houses in 2019 https://amp-fastcompany-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.fastcompany.com/90271599/exclusive-airbnb-will-start-designing-houses-in-2019
- MetaProp Is Making the Innovative Mainstream https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/metaprop-is-making-the-innovative-mainstream/
- Real Estate, Real Opportunity – PropCoin – Medium https://medium.com/@PropCoin/real-estate-real-opportunity-cfb07ab11efc
- Leading industry players launch new proptech development partnership https://thenegotiator.co.uk/property-innovation-network-proptech/
- The 5 Basic Things you Need To Know About ConTech https://www.forbes.com/sites
/angelicakrystledonati/2018/11/24/the-5-basic-things-you-need-to-know-about-contech/amp/
- Proptech firm gains regulatory powers to access tenant accounts for rent collection – Property Industry Eye https://www.propertyindustryeye.com/proptech-firm-gains-regulatory-powers-to-access-tenant-accounts-for-rent-collection/
- Agents embracing fees ban set to succeed long-term says PropTech chief
- Crafting the Best Tenant Experience Requires Creativity and Caution | Propmodo https://propmodo.com/crafting-the-best-tenant-experience-requires-creativity-and-caution/
- ‘Make construction cool again’: The impact of new tech right now https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/best-practice/technology/make-construction-cool-again-the-impact-of-new-tech-right-now/10037523.article
Crowd-sourcing: New Facebook Group for Irish Property Buyers & Investors
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.
For the first time, the 2019 edits will be crowd-sourced and will include 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/