Posts by Laura

The market is fearful, it’s your move  Have you ever wondered why the expression ‘to get our ducks in a row’ is so commonly used when explaining the mismatch between the timing of industry policies adopted and the action actually needed on the ground? There appears to be a notional – but never realised –…

‘Why we need leadership and not excuses’ – Mark Farmer speaking about the UK building Industry  You may have read Mark Farmer’s article published on the Building.co.uk website a few days ago – it has been widely circulated by people vocal in the industry. It caught our attention as the headline read, ‘Time for leadership not excuses’…

What can Irish builders learn from Australian Study? An Australian news story about the need to deliver a greater range/choice of housing caught our attention earlier this week and it raised a few questions that might also apply to Ireland’s residential market. Looking beyond the sheer scale of the marketplace there, many Australian cities are actually…

Brexit uncertainty bites, but how is it likely to impact Budget 2020? Industry news emanating from the UK reports that construction activity there has fallen to low levels last seen in 2009. Builders are blaming Brexit uncertainty for clients – particularly those in the commercial sector – slashing projects and stalling work altogether. The Brexit…

Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme Extended and Mortgage Lending is Up The industry news we have been sharing over the past few weeks has been broadly negative so it is good to start into the new season (summer is well and truly over) with some positive news. Firstly, after a bit of a fiasco earlier…

A Timely Reminder to Check Any Live Rental Listings Earlier this week, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ordered Daft.ie to block discriminatory adverts on its website. This significant decision follows a case taken by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) on foot of a series of complaints that landlords are overtly discriminating against…

The Week in Property Central Statistics Office statistics from last week show that Irish property prices have risen by the slowest rate in six years. According to the report, property prices have risen a mere 2% since last summer. Unsurprisingly, the increase in supply is having an effect to steady (slow?) the market and inflation…

Might small-scale home builders take advantage of building on Dublin Bay? If you opened a broadsheet or turned on talk radio this week, you cannot have missed the most controversial housing story of the week (after co-living, which continues to stoke political tensions),  ‘Building on Dublin Bay’. Olivia Kelly covered this particularly well in the…

Carbon Impact of New Developments to be Assessed Pre-Planning According to an article in The Sunday Business Post last weekend, home builders will face a new carbon footprint test as part of the planning application for new homes. It is not yet clear whether this applies to all new developments or only to those over…

‘Are planning laws failing us?’ asks Brendan Slattery In the article, the writer mentions two previous unsuccessful strategic housing decisions [Marlet/536 homes in Raheny and Burkeway Homes/197 homes in Bearna, Galway]. This is significant as these strategic housing decisions reflect a 100% failure rate before the High Court. According to Brendan Slattery, decisions on more…