Category Archives: Property

Making money from the misery of others

Historically, Dublin has benefited from adverse events in Britain. Brexit may be no different, as house prices look set to rise even further if jobs are relocated here Hardly a week goes by that we don’t decry the feasting of ‘vultures’ on Irish assets and how they have benefited from our misery. Yet, when we […]

Headline rents make headlines, the truth is more like a byline

Our Government is Operating with Faulty Information on Rents Karl Deeter: Ireland’s just had its knuckles rapped by the European Union for its use of rent control in pressure zones The European Union has been critical of Ireland’s use of rent control in rent pressure zones, a regulation that now covers more than half of […]

The construction industry lacks a trained labour force of sufficient size to execute the required strategies

House prices have been rising and are showing no signs of coming under control, at least in terms of the price inflation rate emulating the general rate of inflation. We hear about demand-pull inflation all the time. It’s easy to understand: you have a relatively fixed supply (in this case housing) and as demand for […]

Rent controls are no cure for Irish property market problems

When the fuse runs out on rent controls, prices in the ‘pressure zones’ will explode Rent control is a false god. That any of its adherents are still around is testimony to the stubbornness of false logic surviving in the face of facts. Rent controls are used all over the world and have the purpose […]

What about small time landlords?

With less than 1 per cent of tenancies resulting in formal complaints, why are landlords seen as the ‘bad guys’? When it comes to landlords, the most common assumption is that if he/she is a small-time landlord, he/she will not do a good job of managing a property. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) doesn’t provide […]

A flat line that bodes well for property

(this article is taken from Karl Deeter’s original article in the Sunday Business Post 4th September 2016) Property prices are on an upward spiral, and no one, including the government, can stop them An explanation is not an endorsement, so the cries of ‘unfair’ when I try to explain that there is a very high […]

The high rents that Jack built

This article originally appeared in the Sunday Business Post on the 24th of January. Jacking up rents quickly is a process that can’t occur now since new legislation was pushed through last December. But the question is: who jacks up rents and why? Empirically, the market is full of amateur landlords, but are they the […]

Building control regulations not fit for purpose

This article originally appeared in the Sunday Business Post on  November 8, 2015 Regulatory neglect at Longboat Quay has shown that the kind of disaster that befell Priory Hall can occur again. We need to undertake a costed assessment of the cost of Building Control (Amendment) Regulations SI.9 introduced in March 2014. Thus far, it […]

Taking on vested interests in property

(this article originally appeared in the Sunday Business Post on the 20th of September 2015) Want to hear vested interests squeal and throw tantrums? Easy, just threaten their secured position. This is what Paudie Coffey, Alan Kelly and the Department of Environment have done with their revision of the Building Control Amendment Regulations part 2 […]

Minister of finance intervention on interest rates

This article originally appeared in the Sunday Business Post on the 7th of July 2015 It seems to be a fait accompli that the banks will drop mortgage rates because the Minister of Finance told them to do so. Thus far talk of any pitfalls are being avoided in the belief that subsidising a certain […]