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Varadkar says it’s ‘not the worst thing’ that Ryanair is buying up homes for staff

25 of the 28 units in a new development at Fostertown Place in Swords were purchased by Ryanair for their cabin crew. TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR says he does not have any issue with Ryanair or other companies buying up almost entire housing estates for their staff. He said there is a big difference between companies like Ryanair bulk-buying houses and apartments compared to investment funds. “We are building over 30,000 new homes now every year,” he said. “If you think about it, that’s 70,000, 80,000 or 90,000 bedrooms every year so we are finally seeing housing being built on scale,” Varadkar said. “We want to scale that up this year and next year as well because we do have a rising population and family sizes are getting smaller, so we need more housing and we are making progress,” he said. “In relation to Ryanair specifically, I don’t think it is the worst thing that a company would buy accommodation for their staff. It’s not the first time this has happened, it has be
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Fund buys 46 out of 54 houses in Dublin estate for private rental

The properties are now being advertised for rent at €3,175 per month. AN INVESTMENT FUND has purchased 85% of the homes in a new housing estate in north Dublin. Forty-six of the 54 units in Belcamp Manor in Balgriffin, Dublin 17 were sold last month for over €21.5 million. A filing on the Property Price Register shows that the properties were purchased for €21,585,904 in December 2023. Sources in the industry have confirmed the houses were bought by an investment fund, but the name of the firm has not been revealed. The Land Registry has not yet been updated to reflect the new owners. The houses, which were launched by estate agents Knight Frank in December 2022, are fully furnished and located on the Malahide Road. Occu, a private rental sector company owned by Sw3 Capital, is now advertising the four-bedroom properties for rent at €3,175 per month. In a statement, Occu – which has properties for rent at 15 other locations in Dublin – made clear it does not own the property, de
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Fewer car park spaces and smaller gardens under new house building rules issued to local authorities

The new rules mean more bike storage options must be made available in developments. NEW HOUSING DESIGN guidelines issued to local authorities sets out that some housing developments should have fewer car parking spaces, smaller gardens, and increased bike storage facilities. Housing developments in city centres will see an increase in density under the new rules, which sets out that minimum distances between homes should also be reduced with the option for planning authorities to disregard them entirely if they were satisfied residents would not be unduly affected. Alongside changes to housing density, there are proposals to reduce the number of car parking spaces in urban areas where public transport facilities are accessible. The guide sets out that in city centre locations and urban neighbourhoods car-parking provision should be “minimised, substantially reduced or wholly eliminated”. It also sets out that it is now to be a specific planning policy requirement that a
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House prices outside Dublin to increase by 4.9% in 2024

Kerry will see the sharpest spike in prices – as much as 15% – while prices in Kilkenny and Laois could see an increase of 10%. HOUSE PRICES OUTSIDE Dublin are to increase by an average of 4.9% in the next 12 months. Kerry will see the sharpest spike in prices – as much as 15% – while prices in Kilkenny and Laois could see an increase of 10%. That is according to The Sunday Times Nationwide Property Price Guide. Monaghan, Louth and Westmeath are the only counties where prices are expected to remain the same. In some counties, such as Wexford, Waterford, Mayo and Offaly, it is now generally cheaper to buy than it is to build a home. Ballinlough and Model Farm Road in Cork (both €490,000), are among the most expensive areas for three-bed semi-detached houses. Greystones, Co Wicklow, is also on the pricey side (€605,000), as a popular commuter town. The three most affordable areas for the same house are Mohill (€155,000) and Ballinamore (€160,000) in Co Leitrim, along
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House building in Ireland is at a 15-year high. This is the truth, but it’s also Government spin

Although the Government certainly isn’t lying when it says that the 32,695 new homes completed in 2023 represents the largest annual delivery in 15 years, it shouldn’t try to insult people’s intelligence “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” As lines go, it’s one that’s been attributed over time to American writer Mark Twain and British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli among others. Given its essential truth, it’s unsurprising that the saying continues to be employed to this day whenever someone is suspected of playing fast and loose with the facts to suit their own agenda. Although the Government certainly isn’t lying when it says that the 32,695 new homes completed in 2023 represents the largest annual delivery in 15 years, it shouldn’t try to insult people’s intelligence. Rather, its representatives should have the decency to put the statistics into an appropriate context by acknowledging that the level of homebuilding dropped off a cliff after 200
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I fear a very different kind of property crash

While 80% of people over 40 own their own home just a third of adults under 40 do. This is disastrous for social solidarity and cohesion Changing this system of policymaking requires a government to act in a way that may be uncomfortable for some. Governments have a horizon of no more than five years, and the housing issue requires long-term planning. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was intended to tackle some of these problems. According to its website its remit is to “drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland by enhancing governance, building capacity and delivering effectively”. So how is the challenge of delivering homes for people in 2024 and beyond going to be met? The extent of the problem is visible in the move by companies, including Ryanair, to buy properties to house staff. Ryanair has, justifiably, defended its right to do so. IPAV has long articulated its views on how to improve supply an
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The State is about to create another housing bubble...

The Irish economy is set to repeat its old mistake of excess mortgage-lending... The run-up to Christmas is always a good time for burying bad news and this year was no different. On the Friday before Christmas, Bank of Ireland announced it was going to have to put more money aside to absorb possible losses on Irish residential mortgages. Just how much more money was not very clear but it would appear to run into several hundred million euro. The statement was extremely technical and did not actually talk about losses or defaults. But the point is clear. The bank had already put aside some money to absorb losses that might occur as a result of people not being able to pay their mortgages. It now seems that more people than expected are going to default and the bank has had to put some extra money aside. It is as timely a reminder as you could hope for that the Irish banks are still broken and still fighting their way through a mountain of problem mortgages as a result of their rec
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