Daft Property - Irish Property News

It is hard to know whether the threat by landlords to withdraw from State rental schemes and pass on a raft of charges to tenants is posturing, or a reality the Government will have to face. Housing Minister Simon Coveney's rent control measures outlined this week, which are expected to become law before Christmas, have certainly raised the hackles of the Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA), which has 5,000 members across the State. It said some members have threatened to withdraw from State-sponsored rental schemes, despite in many cases signing legally binding leases with local authorities. It has also proposed charging a payment to collect keys, imposing service charges and registration fees, obliging tenants to pay for parking and documents, and even asking tenants to contribute towards the Local Property Tax - which the Revenue Commissioners have said must be paid by owners, and not those renting. The IPOA's claims that its members are "hard-pressed" and &q

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

How this crippling new homes levy will hit Dubliners 3 times as hard... DUBLINERS face having to pay almost three times as much property tax as householders outside the capital. The controversial tax is due to be rolled out across the board this summer at a 0.18pc rate of the value of the property. But the discrepancies between how much householders in the capital will have to pay compared to people living in towns and cities elsewhere suggests the tax may be one of the most divisive ever. Today the Herald highlights the disparity between the charge on homes in Dublin and two medium-sized towns, close to Cork and Galway cities. We have selected three types of houses - a four-bed detached, a three-bed semi-detached and a three-bed terraced - for comparison purposes. The big difference between the houses in each type is their location and price. Unfair Homeowners are due to receive an estimate on their bill from the Revenue in March. They must submit their valuation by Ma

Stealth charges force us to suffer a lifetime of levies. Whether it's pensions, insurance or just going to the shop, we're all being taxed to the hilt... STEALTH taxes have us in their icy grip from cradle to grave -- from the €10 to register a birth to the €10 death-certificate charge when we finally leave a life of levies and hidden charges. At all points between we are bombarded with demands for money from the State and private companies acting at its behest. There is no escape. All we can do is bend the knee to our revenue-raising overlords and watch as the money we earn, already taxed to the hilt at source, is taxed again and again as it leaves our purse or pocket. And a range of increased charges is on its way. The levy for sending waste to landfill will more than double between now and 2012. From September -- it will rise from the current €30 per tonne of waste to €50 a tonne, increasing to €65 in July 2012, and €75 in July 2013. Do we really think the private

1 If €6bn seems like a huge number, it's because it is. The equivalent of more than €1,300 for every man, woman and child in the country, it works out at an average of €4,000 for each one of our 1.5 million households. 2 The Government says the Budget "adjustments" will be split 3:1 between spending cuts and tax increases, ie €4.5bn of cuts and "only" €1.5bn of tax rises. That still means that each of the 1.8 million people still working will each be paying an average of over €800 more tax in 2011. 3 For lower income earners, December 7 is likely to bring a shock. After the Budget, most if not all workers will be paying income tax. For someone on the minimum wage even a 10pc tax rate could cost them up to €1,800 a year. 4 Middle income earners are also going to find themselves squeezed. The Government is likely to hike all of the tax rates. 5 Homeowners are going to remember December 7 for decades to come as the Government finally imposes a property tax and wate

Property tax: how will it work... Homeowners will have to fork out hundreds every year if the Government presses ahead with plans to introduce a new property tax... THE prospect of a property tax is looming large as the Government attempts to plug holes in the Exchequer finances. An annual tax based on the value and size of the property is what is being considered, it is understood. Taoiseach Brian Cowen said in the Dail last week that no decision had been made on the tax measure, but he did not rule out introducing the new tax either. The tax would be self-assessed. This would likely mean homeowners having to get their home professionally valued so they could make an accurate assessment of its worth. For a lower-valued house, homeowners would pay around €250 a year, while those with a pricier house in a sought-after area would pay more than €3,000 a year. However, any move to introduce a property tax is set to be hugely unpopular and may even be resisted, if calls and texts from homeo

Despite movement in the property market in the first six months of this year, little has changed really. Prices are still falling, the banks are continuing to enforce tougher lending criteria and discussion about the dreaded property tax has loomed its ugly head again instilling fear among most homeowners. Bank sales of apartment blocks that have gone bust have gained interest from buyers as the banks try to recoup some of their loans. But what’s going to happen for the rest of the year? Houses have started selling again, but are the volumes worth talking about and are bank sales going to become a common feature of the property market? Some commentators consider successful sales of receivership properties a sign of a recovery starting, others view them as a negative influence on an already struggling market. There has been considerable debate about a levelling-out of property prices or ‘‘a bottoming’’ of the market since the start of the year. Instead we’ve seen prices continue to fall

Fears raised over stamp duty issue... REACTION: ESTATE AGENTS fear the struggling second-hand housing market may well grind to a halt after the disclosure that stamp duty may be abolished and replaced with an annual property tax. The Government will be under pressure to clarify whether it plans to implement proposals by the Commission on Taxation in the December budget, having already signalled that it it may not proceed with the property tax. Buyers who may be tempted by heavily discounted prices in second-hand houses will be reluctant to make commitments until the stamp duty issue is clarified. The report comes at a time when house sales were beginning to pick up at the opening of the autumn selling season. However, agents last night warned that activity could cease until the Government indicated whether it would proceed with the taxation changes. The Irish Auctioneers Valuers Institute (IAVI), which represents about 1,700 estate agents, last night urged Minister for Finance Brian Le