Social Protection Minister says December review of rent supplement payments – which cost the State €503m in 2011 – was vital to reflect real rental prices but that ‘no-one will be left homeless’ by changes.
Quarterly report from Daft.ie also shows that average rental asking price on largest property website fell slightly over course of 2011 – but is increasing in Cork.
Her building crumbling and in legal limbo, Alsa Campbell writes about how tenants are finding themselves at the sharp end of landlords’ financial troubles.
High rents for retail stores are costing jobs, company owners have said. A review by Retail Excellence Ireland said that rents were reduced by nearly 4 per cent over a two-year period, while 50,000 jobs were lost in the sector.
Following the recommendations of a report published yesterday on mortgage arrears, we’re asking for your say on the suggestion that the state takes ownership and rents the house back to its former owners.
In your fix today: Plans for a Eurozone ‘financial government’, urgent medical advice from the Irish Heart Foundation, and the best presentation you’ve ever seen… on an iPod.
Stephen Kinsella’s new book, QuickWin ECONOMICS, answers 100 questions you might have on the subject. In this excerpt: What happens to demand for gin when the price of tonic changes?
Overall, rents have remained stable since prices in early 2010, according to latest Daft.ie report. Chartered accountant Cormac Lucey warns that while rents have largely stabilised, property prices haven’t.
RENTS HAVE REMAINED largely unchanged for the second half of this year, according to the latest property report from Daft.ie.
Prices remain considerably lower for the same period of last year, despite falling by less than 1% between April and June this year.
The average asking rent for a property stands at €835, 5% lower than last year.
Rent for students still varies across Ireland. Letterkenny was on average the cheapest place for a student to rent, at €219 per month, but living in Dublin city centre costs more than twice that, with students paying an average €501 each month.
Commenting on the report, the president of the Union of Students in Ireland, Gary Redmond, said students will be pleased with current prices:
A year ago, students could expect to pay rent in the range of €370-400 per month, while students in Dublin faced considerably higher rents. But recent figures from Daft now show that in the last year the biggest falls in rents have been in Dublin. Generally, around the country, rents are between 20% and 30% below what they were two years ago.
AT A HIGH-profile US Senate meeting, technology giant Apple was accused of using Ireland as a ‘tax haven’.
The multinational firm, which employs 4,000 people in Ireland, reportedly avoided paying €34 billion in US taxes by negotiating a tax rate of less than 2 per cent with the Irish government – significantly lower than that nation’s 12.5 per cent statutory rate.
The Senate heard that American children are losing out on education because Apple is transferring profits to Irish subsidiaries.
However, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny has denied that Ireland is a tax haven and rejected claims that authorities had negotiated deals with multi-national companies.
So, today we want to know, what do you think? Should Ireland be tougher on multi-national companies when it comes to tax?
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