Review of Housing Costs

Increasing costs of rent are hindering workers from benefiting from increases in wages due to the growth of economy and reaching full employment. The number of people who work are reaching record highs because of the booming economy. However, growth in wages cannot keep up with skyrocketing increases in homes.

The average cost of housing is increasing at a rate twice that of average earnings throughout the country. Rent has increased by 8% in 2018. The average wage increased by just over 3%.

According to the Center Statistics Office, the unemployment rate as of the second of July, 2019  is 4.5%. Although this is a relatively low percentage of unemployment other problems exist such as joblessness, skill shortages and low levels of employed women.

Modest official inflation figures are being questioned by various economists to determine if the figures are truly representative of what is actually occurring as increasing demands for greater pay is contributing to more pressure on workers.

In response to heightening housing prices, there have been many actions for the “living wage” to be heightened by an additional …

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Low Unemployment Rate not Translating to Better Living Standards

Ireland’s unemployment rate has reached all-time lows and people are not able to experience the benefits. Rising house prices are increasing faster than the raise in wages causing bad living standards for many people. The Central Statistics Office posted an unemployment rate at 4.5% last month. Despite this low number, ICTU President Sheila Nunan is still worried about different groups of people that are affected. She mentioned additional problems like youth joblessness, skills shortages, and low employment levels for women as factors that need to be addressed.

Rent has risen approximately 8% in the last year while wage hikes have averaged about 3% over the same period. Many people are calling for wage hikes to be implemented to allow people to afford rising costs in the housing markets. Rent costs contribute to more than half of minimum living costs in Dublin.

The living wage refers to the wage that people need to earn to be able to afford the minimum basket of goods and services. Few employees have used that number as the starting salary for their employees and instead …

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HAP fails to assist

The housing market continues to prove that it is hard to penetrate by people who are eligible for social housing. In order to qualify, you must meet a multitude of standards. The most important of these being that you need housing and cannot provide using your own resources, you have a legal right to remain in the State, you are 18 years of age or older, and lastly your net income must be lower than a calculated threshold based off the structure of your family. 

If you are in the spectrum that allows you to receive social housing, then you are likely to be able to utilize social housing support that is run by the local authorities; this tool is known as HAP and it can be utilized in a multitude of ways. 

HAP went into effect on 1 March 2017 and has been available under local authorities. This program was implemented to allow HAP tenants full-time and still keep their housing support. It also gave rise to a more structured approach at organization by making all social housing supports …

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US Silicon Valley Bank funds Irish Silicon Valley

Despite the uncertainty that surrounds the Irish economy, the business sector of Ireland has been expanding far beyond previous years capacity, with little promise of slowing down. A large part of this is due to the increased investment by both national and internationally based companies in their Irish based assets. 

Additionally, many companies have become increasingly interested in the business and technological advancements that are happening within the up and coming “silicon valley” of Ireland, located within the capital city of Dublin. The United States Silicon Valley Bank, a subsidiary of SVB Financial Group and one of the largest US high-tech commercial banks, has especially taken notice to these upcoming influential companies. 

As a bank that focuses on lending to technology and biotechnology companies, it has made its mission to provide funding to all sizes of business in multiple different forms whether that be venture capital, revenue based financing, private equity, etc. The bank has stayed true to their mission since its debut, providing more than 30,000 start up companies with the funding they need to succeed. 

The Silicon Valley …

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June Unemployment Statistics

Ireland seems to have hit as close to full employment as possible as rates stay constant from May to June of 2019. Full employment is a condition of the economy in which every person who is currently able to work and is seeking employment is employed.   

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) recently released their monthly unemployment report which included details in regards to the changes that have occurred month to month in 2019, as well as a comparison between June 2018 and 2019 statistics. According to these comparisons, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from May to June 2019 has stayed at a constant 4.5pc unemployed. On a yearly basis, there has been a significant decrease of 1.4pc; June 2018 was at 5.9pc while June 2019 is at 4.5pc. 

This percentage change shows a significant change in the amount of seasonally adjusted number of persons unemployed from 140,200 people in 2018 to 109,700 in 2019, which is a 30,500 person decrease. There are many reasons for a decrease in unemployment including immigration and emigration or businesses and people, the creation of …

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Affordable Rental Properties are Hard to Come by

Rental properties have provided the people of Ireland different options when it comes to living situations. People that cannot secure mortgages for various reasons and therefore are unable to buy a home look into the rental market.

A new Simon Communities Study has found that over 90% of homes available for rent within Ireland are not affordable for people with state housing benefits. The study indicates that the government needs to monitor and strictly enforce rent pressure zones, including the 19 new zones announced today.

The most recent publication of the Locked Out of the Market report found that approximately 8% of properties available on the market to rent were within the housing assistance payment limits. That percentage is drastically smaller compared to the percentage of the population that is using housing assistant payments.

The study found some alarming information that the government needs to take under consideration. Only one property was found available to rent within the Rent Supplement or HAP limits across all of the study areas for a single person. Additionally, only two unites were available within …

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Effects of ending the help-to-buy scheme

The help-to-buy scheme was designed to help first time buyers buy a home. First time buyers are encouraged to buy property through the help-to-buy scheme by refunds of income tax and deposit interest retention tax paid over the last four years. The help-to-buy scheme allows purchasers to claim a rebate  tax already paid of income up to €20,000 depending on the value of the property.

There is a move to end the help-to-buy scheme. This would be detrimental to the housing market. Figures have shown that more than 80% of all first time buyers are relying on the scheme to buy a home.

However, the scheme is scheduled to end at the end of 2019. The government has given no indication of an extension of the help-to-buy scheme.

According to theBanking and Payments Federation, 84% of new property purchases were made by first time buyers with the support of the help to buy scheme. Furthermore, chief economist, Dr Ali Ugur, claimed that the help-to-buy scheme was important for market stability. It was a key component in helping housing supply increase and …

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Dublin’s investment in mutual funds

Risk and reward, these two words are correlated heavily with the trading of stocks and bonds. Individual stocks and bonds tend to have higher personal risk, but also higher possibility for rewards. Mutual funds are another type of lower risk investment where you and other people have the opportunity to invest money or capital in a collective fund. This group of people’s money is then invested by a fund manager in a diversified array of stocks, bonds, futures, currencies, treasuries and money market securities that they believe will do well. 

By investing with other people, you are reducing the amount of risk that will be on your own assets. Although this is positive, the payouts tend to be smaller because they are distributed across all of the investors. 

There are many benefits to investing in this product. For one, this type of fund offers built-in diversification of investment portfolio; you are not putting all of your eggs in one basket, which can offset possible downfalls in one category with growth in another. Another being that these funds are chosen by …

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More families unable to afford homes in Dublin

The Dublin City Councillors agreed to tightly restrict eligibility to qualify for the affordable housing scheme. Thus, fewer families will be able to buy social housing in Dublin.

The Dublin City Council is seeking developers for 400 new homes on three different sites. These homes will be offered for sale to qualifying low and middle income workers. The starting price will be from $116,000. New apartments and homes amounting to 370 new units in Ballyum and Ballyfermont will be the first of several thousand affordable homes in all of Dublin, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire.  The scheme of priority has been approved by councillors by the four local authorities. The scheme determines how prospective buyers will be chosen.

Priority applicants have been defined as those living in the council area for at least 12 month will be the first to chose the newly available homes. The remaining homes will be offered to applicants with children in education in a set distance of the property. Any remaining homes will then be available to those who have a household member with a job …

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Businesses prepare for Brexit

Brexit poses a threat to many multinational companies that are headquartered in the United Kingdom. As of now, these companies are taking into consideration many economic and political factors that will help them make the decision to stay in the UK or relocate to a different country inside of the European Union. 

Ecclesiastical, a 130 year old niche insurance company, is one of the many who have begun looking into operation in other companies, although they are not interested in moving their headquarters out of the UK. In order to preemptively bridge the operational divide between the EU and the UK, Ecclesiastical has been working to receive clearance to operate as a third-country branch in Ireland; they have recently been approved by the Irish government. 

There are many requirements that must be fulfilled in order for this to be approved. Some of the most important of those being that the company must set up a full time presence in the country while complying with a minimum capital requirement being held within the Irish State by the Irish High Court as …

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