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Locals fight plans for Vicar Street hotel: 5 things to know in property this week
Plus, how many homes were sold in Ireland last year?
EACH AND EVERY week, we put together a round-up of the week’s biggest property news stories around Ireland.
Stay on the real estate pulse with our five-minute digest, featuring the vital news from the week just gone.
This week, locals are opposing the development of a hotel on Vicar Street – and a new mirco-brewery is to open in Limerick.
1. Locals protest Harry Crosbie’s Vicar Street hotel
Developer Harry Crosbie’s ambitious eight-storey Vicar Street Hotel is being met with opposition from locals. They are arguing against the new development, as well as the recent uptick in planning for student accommodation and hotels in Dublin 8.
Last month, Dublin City Council gave the green light to the 185-bedroom hotel – a decision that People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith and Councillor Tina MacVeigh have appealed to An Bord Pleanála.
2. Work begins to refurbish The Liberties’ Peace Park
Work began this week at The Liberties’ Peace Park, after years of the park being closed due to antisocial behaviour. The park, located in Nicholas Street, Dublin across from Christchurch Cathedral, was designed as a sunken garden to reduce traffic noise at a busy junction.
The central sunken area of the park will be raised, and some of the dense tree and shrub planting will be removed to let more light into the garden. The work will include the restoration of the ‘Tree of Life’ cast bronzes which were originally placed in the garden for the Millennium celebrations in 1988.
3. In 2018, over 55,000 homes were purchased in Ireland
The were 12% more mortgages issued in 2018 than in 2017, figures from the latest quarterly Consumer Market Monitor report show. The reports also shows that 55,000 homes were purchased last year, an increase of 8%.
Since 2014, sales have increased by 8% per year, on average. First-time buyers have accounted for over 60% of all sales during this period.
4. Government wants delay in property tax reduction law
Homeowners who are already paying management fees should get a reduction in their property tax Bill, according to Fianna Fáil. The party proposes that householders should get a reduction in their property tax bill worth one-third of the management fee, one-third of the local property tax, or €300 – whichever is the lower amount.
The property tax reform will end homeowners paying for the same services on the double, according to Fianna Fáil. The government will not oppose the Bill, but have called for a deferral of the proposed legislation for six months, where a second reading of the Bill will then take place.
5. Limerick micro-brewery gets go-ahead
Plans to open a micro-brewery in the medieval quarter of Limerick have been given the go-ahead by city planners, reports the Limerick Leader.
Conradh Brewing Company, trading as Treaty City Brewery, will refit 24 and 25 Nicholas Street to provide micro-brewery facilities, office facilities and an observation deck.
