Ireland can learn from other regions, such as London, when it comes to above shop living, says the housing minister. Image: Alamy Stock Photo Ireland can learn from other regions, such as London, when it comes to above shop living, says the housing minister. Image: Alamy Stock Photo “RADICAL MEASURES” TO develop vacant above-shop units are under consideration by government to help deal with the housing crunch, according to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.
“I’m looking at some quite radical measures in that space, that if we want people living above our shops and in our cities and our towns in existing properties, we’re going to have to make some fairly relatively radical decisions on that. Other issues that are seen as obstacles to above-shop living are also being looked at, he said, such as “the exact standards that are put in place” relating to access and entryways.
O’Brien also plans to streamline the compulsory purchase order process which allows local authorities to buy up vacant houses. The committee was told that the council acquired 68 properties through compulsory purchase order and acquisitions, of which 41 have been refurbished and returned to housing stock.“I think we need to be fair to local authorities. We need that to be coordinated. The Housing Agency has really good expertise in this space. I’m going to be asking them to do that next year.”The housing minister told The Journal that there will be no delay in rolling out the vacant property tax.
The minister said he has not seen any preliminary results of the LPT returns, but he plans to speak to Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe shortly on the matter. “There has been an improvement in the last six months of this year, where we’ve caught up with some of the lost time due to the Covid shutdown,” he said, adding he hopes to make up ground next year.
The income ceiling for the local authority home-loan scheme will be increased to €65,000 for single people seeking their first mortgage in counties Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow. O’Brien said in May that work was “well advanced” on bringing in robust regulation for the short-term lending sector. But nearly six months have passed, and still no regulations. So what’s going on?
Playing a blinder
Will every 1 b able 2 avail ?
christinafinn8 Fresh from a fact finding mission to Belarus Poland border O'Brien has new 'Radical' ideas
christinafinn8 Now where did I hear that before mmmm think it was Murphy
christinafinn8 Why not try all the typical European-wide measures to see which few work best for the Irish situation
christinafinn8 DarraghOBrienTD I’ll believe it when I see it. And it still won’t be enough.