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Category: Development Land

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Development Land

My neighbour has built on our party wall without consent. What can I do?

See the question below recently submitted to the Irish Times Property Clinic:

My neighbour has built on our party wall. I asked the builder to stop building as I had not agreed to this. My neighbour never asked me if it was okay to raise it, became very abusive towards me and put the wall up anyway. What are my rights?

 

Noel Larkin replies: This scenario is all too familiar. Regrettably the red mist can descend when discussions over raising boundaries start. The fact there can sometimes be confusion over where the actual boundary lies can add to an already tense situation.

In this case you seem sure the wall being built on is a party structure. In other words the wall is jointly owned by you and your neighbour and your consent would be needed to raise it.

It sounds like the work is now complete. Your neighbour’s decision to push on with the works despite your protestations and without consent leaves this matter unresolved between you. This is an unpleasant position to be in. The alteration of or interference with a boundary fence can have a direct impact on neighbourly relations. To turn a blind eye now will allow things to fester.

The negative feelings you have about the extension are understandable particularly as you have not agreed to this and your objection was ignored. A quiet life is enhanced by good relations with your direct neighbours. The route to a satisfactory resolution may be in reviewing the actual impact of raising the wall on your property. The type of extension you describe, where this involves raising the shared wall, is a very standard type of development. This simple type of development rarely has any significant impact on the adjoining property.

Read the full details in the Irish Times

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote

Categories
Development Land

As apartment owners, what should we look for in our management company’s accounts?

See details below in relation to a query issued to the Property clinic from a reader:

We recently sold our house, where we had lived for 40 years, and downsized to an apartment nearby. We have now received documentation from the owners’ management company in relation to various administrative matters in advance of a planned AGM in the coming months. The documents include financial statements in relation to the last financial year.

Neither my husband nor I have a financial background and we are wondering where to start as regards understanding these. Is there anything specific we should look out for?

Answer:

The system in place in Ireland for the management of multi-unit developments (MUDs) is that they are managed via owners’ management companies (OMCs). These are normal companies, registered with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), and as such require financial statements to be lodged with the CRO annually. Such statements are, by their nature, technical, and, like yourselves, many property owners do not have any experience in how to engage with them.

It is good that you are engaging with the OMC because, as with any company, good financial management is fundamental to good general management and it is important that members of the company monitor this. If an OMC is not well managed financially, then it will not be able to undertake the tasks set out for it under the lease agreements for the development. And, if it is not building a good sinking fund for long-term investments, then poor financial management will come back to haunt property owners.

Read the full details in the Irish Times

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote

Categories
Development Land

Cost of building three-bedroom Dublin home jumps by €41,000 in four years

The cost of building a three-bedroom semi-detached house in the greater Dublin area has increased by €41,000 over the last four years, a new report has found.

The cost now stands at €371,000, an increase of 12pc compared with four years ago.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI), which published the report, said the increase has been largely driven by a rise in hard costs, including bricks and mortar, which jumped by 19% or 29,000 euro.

Read the full details in the Irish Independent. 

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote

Categories
Development Land

Social housing expected to attract considerable private investment

There is likely to be “considerable investment” in Irish social housing from private interests – both domestic and international – in the coming years, according to CBRE Ireland.

In a new report, published on Monday, the real estate group said there had been “increased demand” over the past six months, with investors “keen to acquire residential units and schemes let to local authorities on long-term leases”.

This is in line with trends elsewhere in Europe and the UK, where the investment market for public housing is well established, and institutional capital, pension funds, private equity and other specialist investors regularly invest in public housing provision.

Read the full details in the Irish Times

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote

Categories
Development Land

Property prices rebound in May in biggest monthly rise since 2015

Property prices staged a minor rebound in May having fallen sharply the previous month, while the stock of rental properties available in the month continued to rise as the Covid-19 crisis all but shut off the tourism tap.

The latest data from property website Daft.ie showed that sale prices rose by an average of 3.7 per cent in May, in contrast to a 5.5 per cent fall in April. However, the average listed sales price of homes was still 1.6 per cent lower than a year ago, coming in at €245,545.

Read the full details in the Irish Times

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote

Categories
Development Land

Fears as many as 70pc of apartments built here between 2000 and 2008 are fire deficient

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland says that even before the Grenfell Tower fire in London, there had been “major concerns” over fire safety in multi-unit dwellings in Ireland, particularly those built between 2000 and 2008.

One fire-proofing expert believes that as much as 70pc of multi-unit dwellings built in that period are deficient, with fire barriers either not properly installed or not installed at all.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy had a “frank discussion” with Dublin’s Chief Fire Officer yesterday to discuss fire safety and life safety issues in light of the London tragedy and will meet with other chief fire officers across the country.

Read the full details in the Irish Independent

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote

Categories
Development Land Dublin Extensions And Conversions Home Improvements Real Estate Surveying

Why we keep making the same mistakes over housing

There is nothing new under the sun and this applies as much to the Irish housing market as anything else. The truly alarming thing about the current housing crisis is that it is really just a rerun of the crisis the preceded the housing crash.

This relationship goes back decades, to the massive surge in house building that followed the economic turnaround in the 1960s and 1970s brought about by Sean Lemass’s economic policies.

Successful housebuilding then, as now, required one thing above all else: rising house prices. This is best achieved by controlling supply. And the best way for housebuilders to do this is by controlling the market for building land as well as influencing government policy towards land use. Manipulating the planning process also helps. All of the above have been features of the Irish house building industry for decades.

Read the full details in the Irish Times 

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote

Categories
Development Land

First-time buyer deposits cut to 10% as Central Bank eases mortgage rules

First-time buyers will only be required to have a deposit of 10 per cent regardless of the value of a property when applying for a mortgage, as a result of a decision by the Central Bank to relax its macro-prudential rules. This is a shift from the current requirement, which puts the ceiling at 90 per cent for loans up to €220,000 but at 80 per cent for the balance of loans above that level.

This means that first-time buyers will be able to borrow up to 90 per cent of a value of a home. The 20 per cent minimum deposit requirement (ie maximum loan-to-value ratio of 80 per cent) continues to apply to second and subsequent buyers. The 3.5 times ceiling on the loan-to-income ratio remains unchanged. Requirements for buy-to-let borrowers and the exemptions for negative equity mortgage borrowers from the measures also remain unchanged.

Read the full details in the Irish Times

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote

Categories
Development Land Dublin Extensions And Conversions Home Improvements Real Estate Surveying

Chartered Surveyors say Help to Buy Scheme grant will have little impact on housing crisis

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland has said the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme announced in Budget 2017 will have very little impact on the housing crisis because supply is the problem, not demand.

Claire Solon, the President of the SCSI said the Government should have focused on supply measures as they would have a much greater impact on the crisis, help stabilise house prices and offer a better return to the taxpayer.

“In our view, the Government should have been focussing on initiatives to make development viable, like reducing VAT on affordable housing, making public land available for affordable housing schemes and providing finance to help kick-start building on sites around the country, with all the employment and tax benefits that this would bring.”

Read the full details in the SCSI

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote

Categories
Development Land

Housing supply at worst level for 50 years as prices exceed boom-time levels

And in further signs of a dysfunctional market, prices in some parts of the country are rising at a faster pace than during the boom – while in the capital they have flatlined.

According to June’s Irish Independent/Real Estate Alliance Average House Price Index, the average three-bed semi now costs €195,361. It is an increase of over €4,000 (+2.18pc) since the end of March, or 4.49pc against the same time last year.

Sale prices of average semi-Ds soared as much as 14pc in Roscommon, 8pc in Laois and 7pc in Kilkenny, while there were no price rises in Cork City or north County Dublin.

Read the full details in the Irish Independent.

If it’s a Structural Survey Report (Building Survey Report, House Survey Report, Home Survey  Report, Property Survey Report, Condition Survey, Commercial Survey or Land Survey, ABL Surveyors are a firm of Chartered Building Surveyors with vast experience who will provide a professional, cost effective and efficient service to all our clients. Each inspection is carried out by a Chartered Building Surveyor (Building Surveyor, Home Surveyor, House Surveyor, Property Surveyor, or Land Surveyor) who has vast experience in their relevant field of Surveying.

We have offices in Navan, Dundalk and Dublin and also cover the surrounding counties and will travel nationwide if required.

ABL Surveyors are a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and holds full professional indemnity insurance cover.

In the event that you require any of these services, ABL Surveyors are the right choice for you so please contact us for a quote