EVERY FRIDAY MORNING, we round up the most important happenings in property this week, to keep you in the loop with price hikes, policy changes and new builds around Ireland.
Here’s what’s been happening in the world of Irish property this week – from rapidly rising housing costs outside of Dublin to a bitter property court row involving Gay Byrne.
1. Galway’s house prices are rising faster than any city outside Dublin
Prices in the capital are leading Ireland’s property market on an upward trend, but outside Dublin costs are rising too, according to new figures from estate agents Sherry FitzGerald.
Prices in Galway increased by 4.9% in the first half of 2017, compared to more modest rises of 3.4% and 3.1% in Limerick and Cork respectively.
2. Tower cranes came to a standstill at building sites this week
Crane operators took to the pickets on Thursday, striking in pursuit of higher pay. Members of Unite trade union are calling for crane drivers’ pay to be raised to between €25 and €27 an hour, a move which fellow union SIPTU has slammed as “disingenuous”.
According to reports by RTÉ, the first two sites to be affected by the strikes on Thursday were the Capital Docks project and a Cairn Homes development on Hanover Quay.
3. Wetherspoon’s central Dublin hotel is set for a 2019 opening
Budget pub chain JD Wetherspoon has announced it will open a Camden Street hotel and pub in early 2019, its first move into central Dublin.
The €15 million investment will see 200 jobs created at the 98-room hotel. The company is set to start development work in February 2018, though some local residents have contested the plans, saying a “super-pub” is not a good fit for the site.
4. Calls for fire safety checks after discovery of Grenfell cladding in Cork
A “systematic re-check of fire safety” in all buildings, not just residential units, has been called for after it was discovered that Cork’s County Council HQ features the same cladding used in London’s Grenfell Tower complex.
Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin this week urged the Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy to implement more checks, saying the presence of the flammable cladding was “extremely worrying.”
5. Gay Byrne’s property syndicate settles bitter €13.5m court row
A property partnership involving broadcaster Gay Byrne this week settled its Commercial Court dispute with a financial fund over outstanding loan repayments.
The Firstwood Partnership sued Launceston Property Finance in September 2016 after the fund issued a demand for full payment of a €6.7 million loan balance, despite the loan not being due to expire until 2020. The partnership claimed there was no default on the loan and that repayments would be made in due course.
And finally, this week’s property buzzword…
Property can be a complicated topic, and every week we decode yet another word, to give you the upper hand in conversations with estate agents (and fellow house-viewers). This week, we tackle the word fenestration.
Although it may sound fancy, it essentially means “how and where the windows go” in a building, so don’t be left behind by estate agents throwing it around.
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