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New schools in jeopardy after Carillion collapse: 5 things to know in property this week
Plus planning documents are in for Amazon’s mammoth Dublin data centre.
THE WORLD OF property is a busy one, from new builds to construction rows. That’s why each week, we round up the most vital goings-on, so you can stay up to date.
From construction giant Carillion winding down to Amazon’s grand plans for a hub in Mulhuddart, here’s your week’s property news in five points…
1) Uncertainty for schools as Carillion winds down
The fall of one of the UK’s largest construction companies has left several Irish building projects unfinished. Carillion Construction was placed into liquidation last week, after talks with creditors failed to produce a solution to the company’s €1bn debt pile.
Carillion is involved in the building of several schools in Ireland, as well as the Carlow Institute of Further Education, and it is not known how the wind up will affect these projects. Carillion employs some 20,000 people in the UK alone.
2) Cork residents angered by fire safety evictions
The tenants of Cork city’s Leeside apartments need not leave their homes due to fire safety works, an engineer’s report has concluded. Tenants have been battling the owners of the building on this issue for some time.
The report deemed the fire safety works both necessary and urgent, but also stated that the tenants can stay in their homes while the work is done, contrary to the eviction notices given to the tenants in December.
3) Amazon’s Dublin data centre could be three times larger than Aviva Stadium
Amazon submitted planning documents for its new data facility recently, which it hopes to build in Mulhuddart in north-west Dublin. The proposed facility would span 20,739 sq m/223,000 sq ft, and at peak times, it could use as much electricity as a small city.
An Bord Pleanála has received pleas for the tech giant’s approval to be overturned, though Amazon have stated their commitment to powering their infrastructure with renewable energy.
4) How many homes were built in 2017? The Government isn’t sure…
Speaking on Monday, the Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy was unable to conclusively state how many homes were built in Ireland last year. However, he did say that the government has numbers for the number of new build commencements, planning permissions granted and the number of social housing units built.
Murphy said that he hoped to see the final number of homes built by the second quarter of this year, and predicts the figures will exceed targets.
5) …but we do know that 76% of social housing came from private rentals
The government has come in for strong criticism this week after numbers from the 2017 housing report revealed that more than three-quarters of Ireland’s social housing came from the private sector last year.
Eoin Ó Broin, Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson, said that this was indicative of the government “shoring up a whole range of problems for the future.” Last year, just 2,245 units of social housing were built, falling below government targets.
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 Buy to Let - when a property is purchased or built for the specific purpose of letting to somebody else.
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