Claim that 47,000 new homes needed a year isn’t credible
There’s a dreary predictability to reports from the property industry. They tend to say two things. First, there is a pent-up level of demand for housing in the economy, driven by deep-rooted demographic trends such as population growth and changes to household size, that can only be addressed through a massive pick-up in construction. But – and here’s the second and seemingly contradictory point – the industry can only build at a certain price point because of high construction costs and strict regulatory requirements. As a result, the Government needs to step in and bridge the affordability gap between buyers and developers with more help-to-buy initiatives, thus ensuring the viability of the market. The objective, of course, is to talk up the market for investors while warning the Government off doing anything radical, or anything that might upset the current price dynamics. The upshot is no change or at least a continuation of what we’ve had since the 2008 financial crisis: housing dysfunction on a grand scale combined with irrelevant or counter-productive government policy. The latest report from property industry body Irish Institutional Property (IIP), whose members include most of the biggest property firms and landlords in the State from Cairn Homes to Ires Reit, is a case in point. Article Source: click here.
Face coverings mandatory in shops, indoor spaces
Face coverings are now mandatory in shops, shopping centres and other indoor settings. The new regulation comes as confirmed cases of Covid-19 have increased substantially over the weekend, mainly driven by large outbreaks in counties Kildare, Laois and Offaly. The regulations provide that a person must wear a face covering in such premises, unless they have a reasonable excuse. The premises involved include shopping centres, libraries, cinemas, and museums, as well as businesses such as nail bars, hair dressers, dry cleaners, bookmakers, tattooists and travel agents. The regulations do not apply to children under 13 or to workers who are separated from others by a screen or are able to keep two metres away from others. Those who do not comply could face fines of up to €2,500 or six months in jail, although the Minister for Justice has said garda intervention would be a last resort. Article Source: click here.
Consumer spending on the rise but people still staying close to home
Online spending has increased 7 per cent since lockdown restrictions were lifted, despite the re-opening of stores, new figures show. Two new studies show consumer spending has risen shaprly since the State first emerged from lockdown. However, the type of spending happening shows people are still largely focused on staying close to home. Figures supplied by digital bank N26 shows consumer spending up 32 per cent since the lockdown with average transaction value rising 19 per cent to €37 from €31. Unsurprisingly, a shift away from cash is notable with such payments down 30 per cent since restrictions started to be lifted. Card transactions are back to pre-lockdown levels. N26’s figures show Lidl was ranked as the Republic’s “top lockdown merchant” followed by Amazon and Supervalu. Amazon has since overtaken Lidl as the lead merchant. Meanwhile, Deliveroo jumped from tenth place to fourth during the lockdown as consumers ordered more takeaways. Separate data from Revolut for the month of July, shows spending in hardware stores jumped 103 per cent year-on-year, although demand has tapered off slight since May. Garden centres also saw increased sales, with spending almost doubling compared to the same month a year ago. Article Source: click here.
Nearly 30,000 could lose pandemic payment if they do not confirm eligibility
Nearly 30,000 people receiving the Government’s pandemic unemployment payment could lose the benefit from next week unless they confirm their continued eligibility for the scheme within the coming days. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection said on Monday that 262,500 people would receive the special pandemic unemployment payment this week – down 12,100 on the figure for last week. It said the number receiving the benefit had dropped 56 per cent since the peak that was reached in early May. The department said that it had issued notifications over the weekend to about 29,000 people who had so far failed to confirm their continued eligibility for the payment. It set a deadline of midday on Friday for the people concerned to reply. Otherwise it warned that no further payments under the scheme would be provided. “In July, as part of process of assuring the integrity of the pandemic unemployment payments the department contacted the approximately 390,000 people receiving pandemic unemployment payments at that time and asked them to confirm their continued eligibility. Notifications were issued directly to pandemic unemployment payment recipients via email, SMS and via their MyWelfare account informing them of their need to confirm their continued eligibility. These direct communications were supported by a large advertising campaign on national and local media and on social media. The vast majority of people have now confirmed their eligibility but a number of people have not responded despite being contacted on three separate occasions. Article Source: click here.
Ombudsman notes high number of tracker mortgage complaints
Complaints over tracker mortgages, insurance policies and customer credit records all feature in the latest report from the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman published today. It details 180 legally binding decisions issued between January and May of this year. Tracker mortgages continue to feature strongly in complaints made to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. In the report, which covers the period from January to May, several cases are cited where banks have had to compensate customers thousands of euro for failing to offer tracker rates. Ombudsman Ger Deering notes that almost 7,000 customers across a number of banks will benefit from the decisions his office has taken. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said: “We still have 1,200 tracker mortgage complaints that we are working our way through. “We have issued quite a number of decisions there and some have serious implications. Article Source: click here.
Numbers receiving social welfare income support down 8.7% in July
The number of people claiming some form of social welfare income support fell 8.7% on a monthly basis in July, however the number of people on the Live Register itself increased. New data from the Central Statistics Office shows there were 922,696 people claiming support via either the Live Register, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment or the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme last month. That is down 87,999 (8.7%) on the figure for June. The number of people receiving the PUP was down 164,355 (37.4%) in the month to 274,578. Meanwhile the numbers on the TWSS was up 55,303 (14.1%) to 447,639. That means the numbers receiving supports specifically relating to the pandemic was down 109,052 (13.1%) overall. However, the number of people on the Live Register rose in the month, up 12,900 (6%) on a seasonally-adjusted basis to 226,600. Year-on-year, the numbers on the Live Register was 38,166 (18.5%) higher at 244,562. Article Source: click here.
State’s biggest landlord records 30% rise in rental income
The State’s biggest landlord recorded a more than 30 per cent increase in net rental income during the first six months of the year despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, its interim report shows. Ires Reit published its half year results for the six months ended June 30th, 2020, on Friday. The report shows the landlord enjoyed 35 per cent growth in the scale of its portfolio to 3,739 units for rental, up from 2,771 units at the same time last year. The new units were across 42 properties in Dublin and Cork. It also recorded a 30.2 per cent increase in net rental income (NRI) to €29.6 million, which was up from €22.7 million at the same time last year. The report says the increase was due to acquisitions and organic rental growth. There was an NRI margin of 79.2 per cent for the period, down from 81.6 per cent the year before. The decrease was due to higher bad debt and vacancy expenses compared to previous years, mainly resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. The basic net asset value per share of 150.4 cents was down from 155.3 cents as of December 31st. The company says it intends to declare an interim dividend of 2.75 cents per share for the six months ended June 30th, which is an increase of 1.8 per cent compared to the 2.7 cents per share for the same period last year. Article Source: click here.
4.3% fall in Pandemic Unemployment Payment numbers
The numbers receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment continues to fall but at a slower rate, according to the latest figures published this afternoon. The number of people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has fallen to 274,600; down 12,300 compared to last week. The figure reported on 27 July was down 26,900 on the previous week. According to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, today’s figure represents a drop of 54% in the overall number since its peak of 598,000 on 5 May. The number of people who closed their PUP claim and returned to work with employers under the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) went up by 12,600 last week, to 96,900 this week. A total of 69,470 employers are registered with the scheme, supporting an estimated 390,000 employees. The top three sectors where people are returning to work remain Accommodation and Food Services, Wholesale and Retail, Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles and Construction. The largest age cohort returning to work is the under-25’s. Article Source: click here.
House completions down 33% but output has rebounded
House completions fell by a third in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, but new data suggests output has rebounded since lockdown measures were eased and construction sites reopened in May. The Goodbody Analytics BER Housebuilding Tracker for the second quarter of 2020, published on Tuesday, indicates that the 33 per cent year-on-year reduction is the largest annual decline in housebuilding in eight years. However, Goodbody says the figures are “ahead of our expectations”, and suggest that housing output “has rebounded somewhat” after construction sites reopened in the middle of May. Goodbody still expects housing completions to fall by 20 per cent year-on-year but has revised up its estimate from 14,000 to 16,500. For 2021 it now expects 19,500 completions, which is up from its previous estimate of 16,000. The figures are still less than half of what is required to tackle the housing crisis, with the Central Bank estimating that 34,000 new homes must be built every year for the next decade to meet demand. Dublin experienced the largest decline in housing output in the quarter – down 48 per cent – but large-scale declines were seen across the State. Scheme completions fell by 37 per cent; apartments by 35 per cent; and single properties by 24 per cent. Article Source:
Motor insurers will use virus windfall to cut premiums for good PR, says Moody’s
Retail insurers will use windfall gains from the coronavirus pandemic to keep motor premiums down next year to restore the sector’s reputation, according to a report by ratings agency Moody’s. Traffic volumes slumped during lockdown by more than 70 per cent, as cars went unused while their owners stayed at home. The Moody’s researchers highlighted that this will lead to windfall profits for many European motor insurance companies, due to lower than usual claims. For example, MAIF in France reported an 80 per cent decrease in the frequency of its motor claims for the second half of March, the report states, while its rival Matmut saw a decline of up to 70 per cent. Moody’s says those declines are likely to be replicated across Europe. It said that retail insurers are therefore coming under increasing pressure from politicians and the media to pass on any windfall gains from the pandemic. Five of the biggest Irish insurers, including Allianz, Axa, FBD, RSA and Zurich, already agreed at the height of the pandemic in April to give rebates to customers. The payments were generally only about €30 per policy, however, and were distributed in many cases in the form of gift vouchers. Article Source: click here.