The Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Act 2022 was signed into law on 04/03/2022 establishing the Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Scheme which will allow for €200 (inclusive of VAT) to be credited to all domestic electricity accounts. The €176.22 credit line (ex VAT) is the amount consumers will see as a credit line item on their bills. Consumers will not need to apply for this or take any further action as the credit will be automatic. Those who pay for the electricity should be beneficiaries of the Scheme. The credit is designed to provide all household ..read more

Maintenance Assistance – A Tenant’s Guide At Earnest, we are committed to providing prompt maintenance assistance to any property issues you might encounter. For that reason, to help expedite the resolution process, we’ve put together a guide to follow when requesting maintenance assistance. 1. The Power of a Clear Subject Line When Requesting Maintenance Assistance Firstly, when sending an email to info@earnest.ie, the subject line plays a crucial role. Always include your address with the Eircode, followed by a brief description of the issue. This simple step helps us quickly identify the pr ..read more

Vacant social homes will be brought back into use for Ukrainian refugees. Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is expected to bring a memo to Cabinet outlining medium and long-term plans to address acute accommodation pressures. The Cabinet was warned last week that all accommodation types could be at maximum capacity by the last week of April. Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected the idea of putting caps on the number of Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland after more than 25,000 arrived in just over two months. Mr O’Brien is expected to update Cabinet about an expanded voids programme whereby ..read more

Property prices rose by 15.3% on an annual basis in February. Prices in Dublin rose by 13.5% while prices in the rest of the country rose by almost 17%. There was a very slight decrease in the rate of property price increases from January to February compared to the previous month and a slightly lower rate of increase in the price of existing homes in the last three months of last year. The number of properties sold was up 12% compared to February last year. Nationally, property prices are now just 2.5% off their 2007 peak. The median price of a property nationally is now €282,000. But that fi ..read more

Changes to the Fair Deal rules that could free up to 8,000 homes for rental are under consideration as part of the Government’s response to house Ukrainian refugees. The Fair Deal Scheme is a scheme of financial support for people who require long-term nursing home care in Ireland.  Under the current rules, 80% of rental income for a vacant home under the scheme is taken by the Government to pay towards the cost of a person’s nursing home care. This rule change would allow the revenue to be kept by the homeowner. The properties for rent under the scheme will not be limited to Ukrainian re ..read more

Cabinet agreed to draft legislation for a new pension scheme for private sector workers. It is estimated that just 35% of private sector workers have a pension. The new scheme will cost the Exchequer almost €3 billion every ten years and is due to come into effect from 2024. For example a worker earning €35,000 per year will accumulate a fund of €293,000 over their working life, excluding investment returns. It is expected that three quarters of a million private sector employees, aged between 23 and 60 and who earn more than €20,000 a year, will be automatically signed-up. Employers will be o ..read more

House prices have risen by 2.4% in the Republic of Ireland since the year began. The average price of a home nationwide now just over €299,000 in the first quarter of the year – an 8.4% increase on the same period last year. The average price nationwide is only 19% below the peak seen in Ireland during the Celtic Tiger. Prices rose in cities across Ireland. In Dublin, prices rose by 4% bringing the average price of a house to over €415,000. In Cork, house prices rose by 3.9% to sit at an average of over €318,000. In Waterford, there was an increase of over 9% in prices – with the average home ..read more

RTB Annual Tenancy Registration is coming into effect from the 4th of April 2022. Landlords must now register their tenancy every year, within one month of the anniversary of when that tenancy began. This change will apply to new and existing tenancies. There is a four-month transition period, when no late fees will be charged which will end on the 3rd of August 2022. Annual registration will change the standard fees and late fees for registration for the private rental and the social housing sector. Delays in registration, will lead to cumulative late fees being applied. New fee system for Pr ..read more

Prices for residential properties in Ireland rose by 14.8% in the 12 months leading up to January 2022. A home purchased in the past 12 months in Dublin increased by 13.3% and in the rest of the country by 16%. The median house price nationally increased by €280,000. Among the regions outside of Dublin with the highest price increases was the border area, with an increase of 24.7%. The mid-west experienced the lowest increase of 13.8%. Revenue recorded an increase of 0.9% in home purchases at market prices between January 2021 and 2022, from 3,484 in January last year to 3,517 this year. Just ..read more

Househunters have been advised to get a mortgage quickly as interest rates are set to rise. Experts have warned costs could go up after ICS Mortgages became the first provider to increase its fixed rates. ICS announced a rate increase on all of its fixed mortgage deals with immediate effect. The rises in rates are a result of the increased cost of funding from the capital markets. The move by ICS could spark other lenders to follow suit. ICS still remains competitive relative to some of the pillar banks, with three-year fixed rates ranging from 2.25% to 2.55% and five-year fixed 2.4% to 2.69 ..read more