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How Brexit could affect your mortgage: 5 things to know in property this week

Plus, Cork is on the fast track to 600 new homes.

BETWEEN RENTAL REPORTS, mortgage analysis and big developers, it can be tough to keep up with the world of property news sometimes.

That’s why each week, we give you a five-minute digest of all the market’s goings on. This week, Brexit could make cross-border mortgages tricky to get, and Cork gets 600 new homes…

1) Brexit could cross-border mortgages harder to get

original Shutterstock / Nhungboon Shutterstock / Nhungboon / Nhungboon

This week, TheJournal.ie spoke to Jennie Peoples and her husband, who were recently denied a mortgage from Permanent TSB due to the fact that Jennie works in Northern Ireland, and is paid in £GBP.

The move is legal due to an EU Directive written into Irish law, but it’s not one all banks are taking. Dermott Jewell, policy adviser with the Consumer’s Association of Ireland says PTSB’s rejection suggests “a concern over Brexit, a concern over sterling, a concern over the volatility of employment.”

2) Interest-only mortgages are back – and sparking concern

shutterstock_649771429 Shutterstock / JETACOM AUTOFOCUS Shutterstock / JETACOM AUTOFOCUS / JETACOM AUTOFOCUS

Speaking to RTÉ this week, Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath called on the Central Bank to examine interest-only mortgage offers, which allow borrowers to only pay interest for a period of time.

Interest-only mortgage lender ICS Mortgages say they see no issue with the product, with Fergal McGrath, CEO of ICS’s parent company, speaking in the lender’s defence. “There is no shred of evidence to suggest that interest-only mortgages have caused… mortgages to go into arrears,” he told RTÉ.

3) 600-home development to be fast tracked in Cork

oflynnproperties O'Flynn Properties O'Flynn Properties

The largest approval under the Strategic Housing Development plan to date has been granted to O’Flynn Properties, a company who plans to build 600 properties in Glanmire, Co Cork.

SHD planning allows developments of over 100 homes to go directly to An Bord Pleanala, speeding up the application process. Managing Director Michael O’Flynn said he thinks the new process  ”can help address the housing crisis.”

4) One in five Sligo shops are now empty

shutterstock Shutterstock Shutterstock

Buildings database GeoDirectory published a list of the towns with the most vacant sites in Ireland this week, with Co Sligo claiming the top spot . One in five, or 22.4%, of shopfronts in Sligo town are empty.

Many of the vacant units have owners who can’t be identified, but Independent councillor Declan Bree claims there are “banks, building societies [and] people who are fairly wealthy” sitting on the dilapidated properties.

5) Are cash buyers are taking over the Irish housing market?

File Photo .House prices could rise by 20% in real terms over the next three years Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

Writing in his Irish Times column this week, economist Richard Cantillon comments on the increased number of cash buyers here. It’s reported that 50-60% of home-buying transactions are paid for by cash buyers.

Cash investors aren’t hindered by mortgage rules, he notes, and so have managed to overtake traditional mortgage-financed investors and owner occupiers in recent years. This, combined with stagnation in the construction sector and the speed of Ireland’s recovery, has widened the gap between supply and demand.

And finally, this week’s property buzzword…

We’re breaking down the complicated world of property jargon, one buzzword at a time. This week, it’s galley style kitchen, a design feature you’ll spot in one of this week’s 4 of a kind properties. A galley style kitchen is designed to be long and narrow, usually with one wall featuring cooking components like the stove and microwave.

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