There is so much property news  to cover today- from career moves to moving celebrities  (Sinead O’Connor is selling her Wicklow home, apparently) – that bullet points will feature heavily to help us get through all the Sunday broadsheets in one day.  Consider yourselves warned.

Pet project

As regular readers will be aware, despite being a strong voice in the battle to take the property industry in Ireland digital (www.prop-tech.ie), I have, together with the www.PropertyDistrict.ie team,  been running a number of business development  initiatives for independent estate agents.  One such initiative, an old-school, cooperative approach to media advertising, continues on page 3 of The Sunday Times property supplement today (pictured).  Independent estate agencies nationwide are welcome to join in, email info@PropertyDistrict.ie for details.

Also, while it is not property-related, one of Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs and straight-talkers Nicola Byrne, founder of icloud90.ie has an important and sensible read on page 10 of the Business section in the Sunday Independent ‘We must face facts and find a new fiction to beat Brexit’.

The Sunday Times

Move

Benwell

The featured front-page property this week is the seemingly ordinary 1920s semi-detached house at 39 Crosthwaite Park, which has recently (2013) been transformed by “an eye-catching slanted addition that draws in the sun” according to editor Linda Daly.   This unusual extension effectively wraps around the side of the home in glass, allowing both reception rooms to indulge in the beautifully landscaped rear garden.  The master bedroom upstairs has  a picture floor-to-ceiling window.   This beautiful home is listed through Savills, asking €1.275m.

Honey, I shrunk the house is an interesting and relevant read about how to downsize in style.  The couple featured (well-known and often-controversial Dublin architect Brian Hogan and his wife Marie) decided to trade down without compromising on location or style so they purchased a 100 sq.m, three-bed, red-brick villa in Portobello  and turned it into a useable, one-bedroom home.   It was designed with their personal needs and tastes in mind, with no consideration for the ‘valuation’. How truly sensible and what a great example of making our homes work for us and not just the other way around!

Country Pile

The featured country pile is always one of my weekly favourites and this week doesn’t disappoint.  The property n question, Hallowberry Lodge, in Carnew, South Wicklow is a former equine spa and equine retreat.  ‘Rustic charm’ does not begin to describe the aesthetic of this tastefully renovated home that Dara Flynn described as follows:

“Hallowberry Lodge … could be straight out of the pages of Horse & Hound…”

The property is jointly listed through www.KinsellaEstates.ie and Quinn Property.

Property District

As mentioned above, page 3 carries listings from independent estate agents across the country and this week’s line-up has a definite equestrian and coastal theme.  Properties of note include:

• The stunning Harbour House in Skerries, asking €1.2m through O’Connor Property Consultants
• Stunning new four-bed detached house at 14 Brookfield, Carnew, County Wicklow listed for €199,000 through Kinsella Estates
• Agents Baker Vance feature a stunning family home in Glenealy, asking €675,000 and a three-bed apartment at Beacon One, Sandyford asking €495,000
• The Inn by The Harbour, is a coastal property in Ballycotton available through Hegarty Properties. asking €565,000
• Two period properties are available in Limerick through Hanly Donnellan (Kilcurly House, Adare) and M&C Property Cuana Keen, on Clancy Strand)
• A former mindfulness and spirituality centre in Carrick on Suir is available through Moynihan Curran, asking €250,000
• A four-bed bungalow within walking distance of Cahir town is available through Quirke estate agents, asking €240,000
• The truly magnificent ‘Beach House’ at Ballyconneely in County Galway is available through Matt O’Sullivan auctioneers
• Large (2,700 sq.ft.) new homes at Cluain Abhainn in Westport have recently launched through Tuohy O’Toole

Off Market

Off market properties in Kilmainham (via Philip Austin Estate Agent) and in Foxrock and Donnybrook (via O’Keeffe Estates, Sandymount)

Commercial

Grainne Rothery writes about ‘Shaping the future look of Dublin’s landscape’ and features the soon-to-be iconic Central Bank building on North Wall Quay and other notable buildings designed by Dublin-based architectural firm Henry J Lyons.  Recent projects include the new Criminal Courts of Justice in the capital and Cork’s award-winning One Albert Quay for Green Reit.

 Elsewhere in the paper

• On the front page ‘Help-to-Buy’ scheme facing the axe’ – one can only hope!
• Former taoiseach, Brian Cowen set for loss as he offloads two Dublin apartments (Kilmainham and Golden Lane).
• In the ‘Money’ section, property editor writes about the costs of being a residential investor in the current market and, in truth, it doesn’t make for happy reading. Being a small-time residential investor is becoming less and less attractive as a business model.
• Gavin Daly in his ‘Agenda’ column writes that ‘Cairn sends a signal with plan for Montrose’; given the five-storey height restrictions in the area (currently), chief executive Michael Stanley envisages 400-500 apartments and 10-15 houses on the €107.5m site (SPP).
• Nama’s Felix McKenna is leaving the state agency to head up ‘the Dad fund’ (featured in last weekend’s review, set up by Bill Nowlan and Frank Kenny to invest in social and affordable rental accommodation).
• AIB is planning a move from Ballsbridge into 10 Molesworth Street, lease terms for 10,700 sq.m expected – €645 per sq.m.
• Receivers acting for Nama are seeking planning for a further five apartments at the former Boland’s Mill site.
• Ballymore owner, Sean Mulryan has agreed a new financing deal with Nama, despite a high profile exit from the agency in 2016 after paying back €3.2bn over a six-year period .
• Tetrarch Capital (led by Michael McElligott and best known for hotel investments) is reportedly looking to enter the Dublin residential property market under new entity called Tetrarch Homes.

Sunday Independent

Sunday Property

The featured front page property today is a divisive one – The Doll’s House at Rathaspeck in County Wexford (pictured) is a blue, yellow and purple (with a hint of red brick) ‘Victorian gem transformed into a cabinet of curiosity’.

The Agent’s View  is written by Sherry FitzGerald managing director, Sheila O’Flynn  and she talks about how the low stock in Cork brings challenges to the market.

Ronan Lyon’s column discusses how Ireland is ‘Paying the price for costly and outdated regulations’.  He points out that all the new regulations and minimum requirements that have been brought in over the past decade do indeed improve the quality of accommodation, however, “they also increase the cost of new housing, putting it out of the reach of ordinary households.  He believes that  local authorities “got things backwards with minimum standards”.  What is needed is not a list of desirable standards but make, as a minimum, what is necessary and within budgetary reach of locals.

Elsewhere in the paper

• Pat Crean’s Marlet Property Group buys €16m site with scope for 1,500 apartments near the centre of Tallaght
• Remediation works at the Beacon South Quarter apartment complex in Sandyford has doubled, to €20m.
• Last week I included mention of the ‘crane flu’ that was sweeping Ireland’s major building sites, apparently, this could escalate into building strikes by the end of the month according to Fearghal O’Connor.
• Pages 22-23 carry the single tagline ‘Planning Dilemma’ and features a round-up of brief but insightful articles as follows:

(i)  Liam Collins writes that ‘Money moves in on streets of big change’ as wealthy individuals buy up any available land in prestigious areas.

(ii)  ‘Residents feel under siege by city’s ‘supersize’ developments’ according to Mark O’Regan , noting the objections to proposed higher density.

(iii) Niamh Horan takes the opposing stance writing that ‘The sky’s the limit – but as with all property, it’s about the right location’.

The Sunday Business Post

Property Plus

The SBP has a genuinely excellent supplement in this week’s edition focusing on Cork, edited by Elaine O’Regan. The lead story reads ‘A new stadium, new citizens, and a fresh wave of urban regeneration are set to give the city of Cork a shot in the arm’ by Jonathan Healy.

The front page of the Property section is by Donal Buckley and he gives an overview of the smart cities concept and what Dublin needs to strive for in order to compete with international cities.  Smart cities is a simple term to describe an ever-increase range of innovations through technology for the planning, construction and property industries – collectively referred to as ‘proptech’.  For more in-depth information on how this movement is evolving in Ireland, head over to www.prop-tech.ie to see some of the early start innovations and solutions already in process.

Michele Jackson of TWM Property has an interesting column ‘How to make the most of your real estate’ urging companies to analyse their leases in advance of January 2019 – excellent and important advice.

  Elsewhere in the paper

• Nama to sell Dublin’s Gibson Hotel for €80m
• Generation rent: only 25% of young can afford a mortgage