Property Data: Own Your Insights

Planning was sought under the old SHD system for more than 9,000 residential units in the first two weeks of April. This “scramble” to meet the strategic housing scheme deadline of April 19th has been the subject of heavy reporting by The Irish Times. While the scheme is currently being phased out, developers can still lodge SHD applications where An Bord Pleanála ‘Opinions’  were requested and/or received in 2021. Over the past week, 12 separate applications were lodged for 5,035 homes and 93 percent of these, or 4,664, are for apartments, with only 371 houses proposed.

This new pipeline of stock is to be welcomed, particularly as the latest data from the Residential Tenancies Board and the Economic and Social Research Institute shows that rents for new tenancies increased by an average of 9 percent across the country in the last quarter of last year. It is noteworthy that the volume of new tenancies registered in Q4 (9,346) was down 48 percent on the same period in 2020. This has been attributed to persistent low supply levels and existing tenants choosing to stay in their current tenancies for longer. National average rents coming into 2022 stood at €1,415, or €1,872 in Dublin, and the annual growth rates were highest outside of the greater Dublin area due to “thinning supply” levels.

As most readers here will know by now, new legislation was introduced on 4 April, requiring landlords to register all tenancies with the RTB on an annual basis. This is an additional layer of burden for property owners but we have yet to see where the value will lie, outside of providing additional data.

And speaking of data, the Housing Department has now combined all housing information on the ‘Housing for All Statistics Dashboard’. This dashboard will bring together all figures that indicate trends in housing supply and affordability, updated on a monthly and quarterly basis. Available datasets include: new dwelling completions, as compiled by the Central Statistics Office, based primarily on new ESB Networks domestic connection; quarterly planning permissions, as provided by 34 local authorities and An Bord Pleanála; monthly commencement notices; HomeBond registrations; and, of course, the Residential Property Price Index, or RPPI, and the RTB Rent Index. 

There is no longer any excuse for not knowing the market. Information flow has improved significantly over the past decade. The dashboard is available at the following link and is definitely worth using in order to better understand the numbers behind the headlines and to own your property insights.

Ian Lawlor
086 3625482

Managing Director 
Lotus Investment Group