Daft Property - Irish Property News

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...

More pain as households hit with new €100 ‘property’ tax... ALMOST all households are set to be hit with a new €100 service charge to be announced this week, the Irish Independent has learned. The Cabinet will sign off on the combined water and property tax tomorrow, despite the easing of the debt burden under the new EU bailout deal. Environment Minister Phil Hogan is coming under pressure to exempt those on low incomes from the new tax, which will result in middle-income earners paying more. The Government is expecting to bring in upwards of €150m from the charge. The flat-rate levy, to be introduced next year, will be the first tough decision to be taken by the Coalition that will prove unpopular to the overwhelming majority of people. The options for the annual charge range from €100 to €200 a year. The likely outcome is a sum at the lower range of €100, with a small number of exemptions -- the solution favoured by Mr Hogan. However, this will have to be approved by the...

Depression surge in rich suburbs over cash worries... Affluent areas see huge jump in demand for mental health services. The number of anxiety and depression disorders in the country's richest neighbourhood has more than doubled since the recession. People worried about their mortgages, losing their jobs and paying private school fees in Dalkey, Blackrock, and Dun Laoghaire, are flocking to their GPs for treatment for mental health conditions. Householders living in the affluent neighbourhood, which is home to U2's Bono, Enya, and film director Neil Jordan, are becoming ill as they struggle to pay their bills. The clinical director of the Cluain Mhuire Community Mental Health Services for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Dr Siobhan Barry, said there has been a huge jump in the number of referrals to their services between 2008 and 2009, when the recession hit the country. The remarkable increase in the numbers attending the public service is also thought to be caused by an i...

250,000 'broke' after paying mortgage and utility bills... A QUARTER of a million people have nothing left to live on once they have paid mortgage and electricity bills, according to a new survey which reveals the true extent of the hardship imposed on households by the recession. And another 210,000 people are so hard-up that their income does not even cover their essential bills for heat and the cost of the home, research commissioned by the Irish League of Credit Unions shows. Another three-quarters of a million people have on average just €70 left each month after paying essential bills, the iReach survey conducted for the Irish League of Credit Unions shows. The research, conducted to see how much disposable income households have, found that a large number -- 428,000 -- feel there is no future for their family in this country. Family incomes have been hit by tax changes, higher utility bills and transport costs, the research found. Most people regard their mor...

Growing dole queues expose fragility of Irish economy... Unemployment figures show Ireland cannot afford to lose a single multinational – but this is not stopping France and Germany trying to force it to raise corporation tax: Sometimes you have to wonder if the rest of Europe understands the fragility of Ireland's economy. Do the Germans and French not understand that there is a prospect of zero growth in the economy in the next three years and that forcing multinationals out of the country could finish Ireland off altogether? Their constant attacks on Ireland's low corporation tax rate have even got on the nerves of Ryanair's Michael O'Leary, who has warned that any increase will jeopardise the country's ability to pay off its debts. Figures out on Tuesday showed a surprise rise in unemployment. Yet Ireland swiftly came under attack again for its low corporation tax of 12.5%, as if this was any part of a fix for the challenging times ahead. German fina...

Census to answer questions about state of nation... ARE WE losing our religion and getting divorced more often than before as the recession tightens its grip? How many of us are moving abroad to find work and escape the economic crisis? These questions and many more will be answered by Census 2011, which takes place on Sunday, April 10th, and will provide researchers with a treasure trove of statistical data to pore over to determine the state of the nation. Some 5,000 staff working for the Central Statistics Office (CSO), who are called enumerators, will begin distributing green Census 2011 forms to all 1.8 million households across the State from today. Everyone who is in the State on Sunday, April 10th, must fill in one of the 24-page forms, which include a range of personal questions designed to create a comprehensive picture of the social and living conditions across the State. The green forms ask for basic information about the occupants of a household such as their age...

Householder to carry heavy can for errant banks... HOUSEHOLDERS will be hammered. That is the clear message from the four-year austerity plan issued yesterday by the Government. In plain language, if you own a home, have a pension and a son or daughter in college, you will end up more than €4,600 a year worse off by the time all of the changes in this plan have been implemented. Many of the changes will impact early on in the four-year plan, putting additional pain on family budgets. Middle Ireland is set to pay an extortionate price for the failures of our banks, our regulators and the Government. And significantly, there are no measures in the four-year plan to levy the errant banks. Instead, homeowners will bear the brunt. Personal finance experts last night warned the taxes, levies and charges would push many families over the edge financially. The downturn has left many consumers just one bill away from financial collapse. The severe measures in the four-year plan could be enough ...