Daft Property - Irish Property News

Don't blame us for 170,000 house surplus, say builders... BUILDERS yesterday denied that too many houses went up at the height of the boom -- insisting they built to the demand that existed. Hubert Fitzpatrick, director of housing and planning services at the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), made the comments after a new report claimed 170,000 more houses were built than were needed during the property bubble. The organisation is now calling on the Government to conduct a national audit to provide "accurate" data on the number of empty homes. It argues that a definitive account of the situation has not been presented -- because reports probing the issue are measuring housing stock in different ways. The latest report into housing published yesterday by University College Dublin (UCD) and Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) found a total of 345,000 homes -- or 17pc of all housing -- were currently lying empty. It said that even without considering holiday homes and

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