Irish Property News Update
Property repossessions on the rise
The head of KBC bank expects property repossessions to increase and 2015 and 2016 as reported in the Irish Independent here. He puts it down to the fact that the Central Bank have set targets for Banks to deal with their problem loans.
Growth in rents slows in 4th quarter
Ronan Lyons over at Daft.ie comments on their latest report.
The national average rent between October and December was just under €950, that’s 9.7% higher than last year. However, this is down from a 10.8% annual increase in the second and third quarters and marks the first time since mid-2009 that rental inflation has eased.
The first time in over 5 years! This may signal the peak rent that the market can bear may be approaching soon. Note that the lowest year on year rise was in Co. Monaghan were rents were up only 0.4%. The full report can be downloaded in pdf format here.
Development of zoned and serviced land
The Department of Finance have opened up a consultation process on what can be done to encourage the development of zoned and serviced land. In particular, how the taxation system can be used to do so. More tax breaks on the way? Michael Noonan argues no.
“I am determined the mistakes of the past will not be repeated, when property-based tax reliefs were allowed to continue for too long with no clear rationale behind their maintenance. Lessons such as these must be applied in designing the Irish tax code for the future. In that regard, I want to emphasize that this consultation is not being launched with a view to introducing new property-based tax reliefs or tax breaks.”
If you want to have your say have a look at the paper here and send your suggestions to zoned&servicedland@finance.gov.ie
Other Property News
Well here’s one way of squeezing an extra bit of yield from your portfolio. Do you think letting out your driveway as a parking spot might catch on. Then you can invest in JustPark, who say they have signed up 150,000 parking spot owners in the UK. Currently crowdfunding over on CrowdCube. See here.
Larry Goodman Jnr to go house building. See here. 140 units planned for Dundalk. Drogheda expected next.