What ‘keeping going’ looks like for Ireland’s property and construction industries

The world has changed quite a lot since last week and we understand how confusing things are right now. Of course, safety is our number one priority. And this is followed closely by keeping business going. Here at Lotus Investment Group we are currently supporting many developments and building sites across the country. Not only are these sites supporting heavy employment at this time of vulnerability, they are also working on delivering vital new homes to the marketplace.

With an estimated 140,000 workers laid off over the past week, it seems inevitable that further pressure will be put on local authorities to deliver social housing quickly. This will most likely need to be done in collaboration with approved housing bodies, or AHBs. Significantly, these new homes  – both public and private – will be needed right across Ireland. For our part, we will process any such development funding applications promptly in order to facilitate speedy delivery.

With this regional housing demand in mind, it was interesting to read the following article by Donal Buckley in the Independent yesterday: ‘Development land values could show the strongest growth in Connacht, Slower trend expected for Dublin land values’.
This headline is taken from the findings of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) most recent member survey. It must be noted that this survey was conducted prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus and therefore does not reflect any opinion of the likely impact of this, in Dublin or nationwide.

According to the report, SCSI members expect to see a 5% increase in development land values in the west of the country across the residential, industrial and mixed use (office/retail) sectors. Expectations for Dublin were more conservative, with industrial sites forecast to grow by 4% and Dublin residential land is likely to stay flat this year. A slowdown is also expected in the rest of Leinster, while demand for development land in Munster is forecast to hold steady, prices will not necessarily increase. Of course, the same survey conducted today might show vastly differing opinions and expectations.

Finally, in his rousing address to the nation on St. Patrick’s Day, An Taoiseach summed it up well by reminding us “We are all in this together”. It is important that we all do what we can right now to be part of the solution. The team behind the VacantHomes.ie initiative are calling for anyone with a vacant property that can be used to temporarily house people at this time to make contact with them or to register the property on their website. For business owners and site managers, be sure to monitor the unfolding situation keenly and please follow the advice and guidelines at www.hse.ie to keep clients, colleagues and our communities safe.

Our team, while primarily working from home for the next few weeks, are fully committed to supporting our clients and will be contactable by phone and email. Full details at www.LotusIG.com