Renting In Ireland? Latest Updates
New regulations have come into place for people who are renting accommodation, with these updates requiring landlords to ensure there Read more
How will Brexit affect the Irish Property Market?
How Will Brexit Affect the Irish Property Market?
All over Europe, people are wondering how Britain leaving the EU is going to affect them. Here Read more
Studio apartments on the way with new planning rules
Studio apartments on the way with new planning rules
In June 2015, Alan Kelly the Minister for the Environment, sent a small warning to Dublin City Council, telling it not to put any “unreasonable or excessive” requirements in the city development plan which could damage the commercial viability of housing.
Just the next month in July, the council published its proposals for changes to the apartment standards for the development plan due to come into force at the end of 2016. This new category would be known as a studio, reducing the numbers of dual-aspect apartments, but retaining the overall size of apartments.
The City Council didn’t exactly get the message, therefore the Minister Alan Kelly, and his department decided to simply give them easier instructions in the form of the “Planning Guidelines on Design Standards for New Apartments”. These are now mandatory and it reduced the minimum size of apartments which could be built in Dublin city by 10-20% per cent.
Where is Dundrum Town Centre going?
The future plans for Dundrum Town Centre
It would be impossible to match the sounds of walking down Grafton Street and city centre streets. A place where there are no musicians playing, no charity clipboards, no traffic noises, no rain, no wind, no cold. But instead, there are sounds of shuffling Ugg boots, the smooth roll of Bugaboo buggy wheels, the low sound of conversation chattering, the muffled clatter of coffee cups and cutlery, these are the sounds of Dundrum Town Centre.
Firstly, it’s not the same as shopping in Dublin city centre or in your local town, but we have changed our buying and shopping habits, we are not the same people we were before Dundrum Town Centre opened ten years ago. With the levels filled with bed-head hair “South County Dublin” teenagers and “Yummy Drummy” mummies, we have decided to use Dundrum Town Centre as our local towns.
Construction levies may end to boost build of low-cost homes
Provide 15,000 homes annually, Councils to forgo €100m per year in construction levies
Under this new incentive, builders would not be required to pay levies to local authorities when they construct starter homes in Dublin and some other parts of the country, under a plan being worked on by the Irish Government. In a move to provide around 15,000 new houses and apartments annually, builders would not be required to pay the development levies in regions where there is a shortage of properties for first-time buyers.
Although the proposal is already under scrutiny in contentious pre-budget talks between the departments of finance and environment. However, there is still no agreement, as local authorities would have to forego up to €100 million in levies from builders. One suggestion is that the scheme would be confined to properties priced in the region of €300,000, with the duration of the initiative and geographic limits set in advance to direct activity towards areas with the greatest need.
Given heavy constraints on new public expenditure next year, Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly has been told to examine how funds from his current budget could be redirected to local authorities to bridge the gap.