Daft Property - Irish Property News

Thousands of 'ghost estate' residents will now fall into tax net... THOUSANDS of homeowners living in unfinished developments will be hit with property tax bills from the summer. People living in estates which were classed as "seriously problematic" just four months ago will be forced to pay the tax after the Department of the Environment decided they did not qualify for a waiver. Last year, some 1,322 housing estates containing 43,000 homes were considered exempt from the household charge because essential works needed to be carried out. The Government has now decided that just 421 estates, with about 5,100 households, will not have to pay the property tax. Housing Minister Jan O'Sullivan defended the move, saying that essential works, including public lighting, water treatment systems, roads and open spaces, had been provided in many estates since last summer. The reduction in those qualifying for a waiver showed that progress was being made in ta

Revealed: huge inequity in rural/city property tax... Small apartments in capital will be charged more than rural 'mansions' THE gross inequity of Finance Minister Michael Noonan's property tax is today laid bare as it has emerged Dubliners on the lowest rung of the property ladder will pay higher property tax than the owners of large four-bedroom homes across rural Ireland. One-bed apartment owners in the golden triangle of south county Dublin will be forced to pay on average €315 in property tax, higher or equal than that paid by the owners of large detached houses in 19 other counties outside the capital, a Sunday Independent national property survey published today reveals. The figures have reignited angry calls this weekend from within Fine Gael to have the terms and scope of the property tax amended in the Finance Bill to address the "injustice inflicted on the people of Dublin". Dublin South TD Olivia Mitchell said: "What is happening is th

Building slowdown stalls attempt to complete 2,000 'ghost' estates... WORK TO complete the State’s 2,000 unfinished housing developments has stalled due to a 40 per cent drop in on-site construction activity this year, according to the latest figures from the Department of the Environment. However, the vacancy rate of completed houses on “ghost” estates has fallen by one-fifth since the department published its survey on the extent of the problem last year. In addition, demolition has begun on estates were there is no prospect of completion, the department said. Last October the department published its first national survey of the extent of the ghost estate problem, where developments are left unfinished and only a fraction of homes are occupied. It identified more than 2,800 unfinished or vacant housing estates. A year on, some 700 estates have been completed and a further 100 on which no substantial work had started have been taken out of development, leaving a tot

Traveller in eviction row owns Limerick ghost estate... THIS is the 33-unit housing estate in Co Limerick owned by one of the Irish Travellers living on the controversial and illegal Dale Farm camp in England. The substantial detatched houses, which could sell for over €400,000 each, have been under construction since 2004. Irish Travellers living on England’s largest illegal halting site at Dale Farm in Essex face eviction next week. The Traveller, who can’t be identified because he shares the same name with five other Travellers on the Dale Farm site, became the title holder of the ‘ghost’ estate in Rathkeale, Co Limerick last year. It is one of the few estates in the country where construction has continued -- albeit at a slow pace -- since the collapse of the Celtic Tiger. A prior applicant successfully lodged planning permission with the local authority for the houses in Rathkeale, where there is a large Traveller population. Work is still continuing at the housing

House prices continue to tumble despite faster selling time... HOUSE prices are continuing to plummet with asking prices now as much as 47pc lower than the peak just four years ago. A new report from property website Daft.ie says that although homes are selling faster, prices are continuing to fall. And the findings are confirmed in a separate report from myhome.ie, albeit with variations in the average asking price for a house. Daft.ie says the average asking price in June was €196,000, down 47pc from the peak. The myhome.ie survey says the average asking price nationally is now €249,000, 40pc down on peak. Prices of new homes are now back at the 2001 level, myhome.ie adds, with average asking prices of €239,000 in Cork, €234,500 in Galway, €185,000 in Limerick, while the Dublin figure is €286,000. Daft.ie said that Dublin asking prices fell by 5.26pc over the past three months, and now the typical figure is half of what it was during the peak in 2007. South County Dub

Until we see some real green shoots, praying to a tree stump may be the next best thing... It's a miracle. It's a sign from above in bad times. It's a tree stump. It all depends on where you stand, how you view the tree stump in the churchyard in Rathkeale, County Limerick. People from all over the country have been coming to pray at the stump, in which they perceive an image of the Virgin Mary. Workmen removing old trees from the grounds of the Holy Mary Parish Church, having sawn away the upper part of the tree, noticed that the leftover stump had an unusual shape. They believed it looked like the Virgin Mary. The parish priest could have seen this as a great opportunity to revive the faith, but instead, he talked commonsense. "There's nothing there," he said crisply "It's just a tree. You can't worship a tree." God help him, he's fighting an uphill battle, as local teenagers line up in the Church in the evenings to say the Rosary in a