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# Housing
# Mortgages
Government-backed mortgage offers are set to get bigger from March
Houses valued up to €360,000 in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, South Dublin, Dublin City, Fingal, Wicklow and Kildare will soon be eligible for the loan.
# accommodation crisis
McGrath: 'Plea for large buildings to house refugees reflects the strain the system is under'
Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman has made an urgent plea to his colleagues for accommodation assistance.
# rent credit
'Exceptionally high volume' of calls to RTB leading to backlog on queries about renters' credit
Green Party TD Patrick Costello said that the RTB are overburdened and don’t have the resources they currently need.
# Mortgages
Ireland had the highest number of mortgage drawdowns last year since 2008
That’s according to two reports published today by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland.
# Housing Crisis
Business group Ibec warns housing crisis is 'critical barrier to growth and business investment'
It has offered some key recommendations which the group claims would ‘cut the cost of new home by €30,000′.
# Asylum Seekers
26 additional asylum seekers unable to be accommodated by State
A total of 81 international protection applicants could not be housed this week.
# Homelessness
Homelessness record broken again as 11,632 people in emergency accommodation in December
The Department of Housing published the figures this afternoon.
The Department of Housing published the figures this afternoon.
A total of 8,190 adults and 3,442 children were living in emergency accommodation during the week of 19 to 25 December.
Focus Ireland has called these figures "shameful".
# Social Housing
Initial social housing targets not met as Housing Department revises new builds to approx 7,500
The Department of Housing has cast doubt on figures issued in an official briefing note to Minister Paschal Donohoe.
# Planning Permission
Over 28,700 units of large developments are awaiting An Bord Pleanála permission
That’s according to a report from consultants Mitchell McDermott.
# factcheck
FactCheck: Did the state build more social housing in 2022 than ever before, as Taoiseach claimed?
“We’ve never built more social housing than was the case of the past year,” The Taoiseach said.
# Ukraine
CityWest refugee centre to close to new arrivals 'in a matter of days', says O'Gorman
The UN’s refugee agency warned that ‘urgent intervention’ is needed to prevent large numbers of people becoming homeless here.
# Housing
New scheme to repair Celtic Tiger-era defective apartments set to cost up to €2.5 billion
50% to 80% of apartments built between 1991 and 2013 are estimated to have at least one defect.
# Housing
Threshold says 40% of tenancy terminations for property sale were invalid in last quarter of 2022
The charity’s advisors supported 17,012 individuals in the last quarter of 2022.
# ukrainians in ireland
Difficult to rule out future use of tents for asylum seekers, says junior Minister
Peter Burke, the Minister of State for European Affairs, said that housing refugees was a ‘wartime situation’.
# Housing
Value of mortgages increase by 16.8% in 12 months: banking lobby report
The value of first-time buyers’ mortgages rose 1.4% year-on-year, according to the report.
# Housing Assistance Payment
There were just 41 properties available to rent for people accessing HAP last month
HAP is a form of rental benefit payment to assist lower-income households.
# Damien English
Property questions take out another minister but this resignation is different to the Troy saga
English’s resignation is solely due to a 2008 planning application.
Fine Gael TD Damien English resigned his position as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment today.
The Meath West TD resigned solely due to a 2008 planning application in which he failed to declare he owned a house.
Public scrutiny of politicians’ ownership of housing has ramped up in recent months following the controversy surrounding TD Robert Troy and his properties.
# Housing Crisis
Landlord tax breaks 'not off the table' as judgement call to be made before end of March
At a summit with housing stakeholders held yesterday in Government Buildings, a number of proposals are understood to have been put forward to benefit landlords.
# rent pressure zone
Minister to assess how co-living developments can be brought under rent legislation
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has said he has always been opposed to co-living developments.
# housing for all
Housing targets expected to be revised upwards as Govt considers buying up apartments
The summit comes as homelessness figures broke new records for the fifth month in a row.
# first home
Housing minister rejects warning government scheme may push up house prices
Darragh O’Brien said he does not believe a state-backed scheme will have any “major implications” on driving up house price inflation.
# Housing
Average house prices now almost eight times average wage, reaching near-Celtic Tiger levels
The median asking price for a home in the fourth quarter of 2022 was €330,000.
# airbnb
Short-term letting rules were 'destined to fail' after only 50 planning permissions granted
In total, there were 16,181 homes available to rent on Airbnb as of 21 December.
# Housing
Covid-style response must be adopted to tackle housing crisis, says Varadkar
The Taoiseach said the Government needs to turn the corner on housing as it is causing inter-generational division.
# Housing
Taoiseach keen to see more modular homes built to tackle housing crisis
Houses built off site in factories have already been used to accommodate Ukrainian refugees in Ireland.
# Interview
All sectors will get 'fair hearing' on taxation if SF gets into power, McDonald insists
If in government, Sinn Féin would reduce the inheritance tax threshold to €300,000.
# Poll
In 2009, 60% of people thought it was a 'good time' to buy a house. Now? That figure is 14%
That has dropped from 60% in December 2009.
# Housing Crisis
Taoiseach to meet experts in housing in the coming weeks as Govt attempt to kick-start acceleration plan
So are we heading Housing for All 2.0?
# Landlords
Housing minister: 'I'll be frank, we've got to revisit the tax treatment for small landlords'
In an interview with The Journal, the housing minister said tax measures is one way to keep landlords in the market.
In an interview with The Journal, Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien said the tax treatment of landlords is something the government will discuss further.
Small landlords are continuing to leave the market, said the minister.
Pressure will be put on local authorities to ramp up their delivery of homes next year.
THE MORNING LEAD
Dublin property price ceilings under First Home Scheme to increase to €475,000
Maximum property price ceilings are to increase from 1 January.
Maximum property price ceilings under the First Home Scheme for every county are to increase on 1 January, Political Correspondent Christina Finn reports.
Price caps for Dublin City; Cork City; Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin are to increase from €450,000 to €475,000.
Since its launch in July, 2,400 people have registered under the scheme.
# Waterford
Council's housing chief 'loath' to axe need for homeless to require local link for emergency beds
Local authorities have previously been told by the housing minister to drop the policy for anyone seeking an emergency bed.
# Banks
Tánaiste says there are no current plans to reintroduce mortgage interest relief
Varadkar said there are no plans currently but it’s not something the Government would rule out for the future.
# PLANNING LAW REFORMS
Taoiseach says overhauling planning laws 'essential' to delivering climate and housing targets
TDs also raised concerns about the Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill today.
# Housing
Councils to secure proportion of any land value increase arising from residential zoning decisions
Land value increases when planning decisions are made to zone land, with the uplift going to the landowners or developers, but not to the State.
# Housing
Coalition parties may clash over planning reforms as Green ministers flag concerns at Cabinet
Green Party members have raised concerns about restricting access to justice.
# Housing Crisis
Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien wins Dáil confidence vote by 86 votes to 63
A motion of no confidence was tabled by People Before Profit-Solidarity.
# Executive Decisions
Cabinet approves international surrogacy policy proposals with aim of giving 100s of families a 'route to recognition'
A busy Cabinet session also saw Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien bring draft laws to overhaul Ireland’s planning system.
# objections
Minister says there should be 'clarity' about who is taking cases against planning decisions
Darragh O’Brien denied that resident groups are being targeted by a new bill.
# Housing
Property price ceilings under First Home Scheme likely to be increased in a number of counties
A recommendation is due to go to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien next week to increase caps.
# Housing
Housing minister to face motion of no confidence in the Dáil next week
The motion being tabled by People Before Profit-Solidarity will take place just days before the Cabinet reshuffle.