Why the housing crisis may feel as if it’s getting worse

Writing (and talking) about the housing crisis can involve, on the face of it, two opposed claims. It hardly feels like the shortage is getting better, yet more than 32,000 homes were built last year – up 10 per cent on 2022. Clearly there is a lag between those new builds coming through and buyers “feeling” like there are more homes for sale, but a new report from Daft.ie shows there may be other factors at play.

One key data point is the fact that the stock of second hand homes on the market is at the lowest point since Daft began tracking the stat in 2007, and it has been bumping along at close to an all-time low for three months now. That means new homes coming on stream aren’t having the impact on the market they should have. It also means, as Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports, that demand is being shifted out of the “best” areas of Dublin and down the motorway network, as it were.

Staying with housing, Eoin reports that the cost of building social housing is roughly twice as high in Dublin as other parts of Ireland.

Meanwhile the Republic’s commercial real estate sector expects lease terms to become more flexible for both tenants in the future as the industry recalibrates to new post-pandemic realities, according to a new survey. Ian Curran has the story.

Vulnerable people stuck in the middle of impasse over enduring power of attorney

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Sewage crisis: why this UK election is being fought on – and in – rivers and lakes

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Hubristic Woodford was the orchestrator of his own downfall

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Despite what people may think, taxes in Ireland are low compared to Europe

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Thinking about getting married? Fiona Reddan explains why, from a tax perspective at least, it has big advantages.

It is “probable” that two or more firms are individually paying more than 10 per cent of Ireland’s annual corporation tax (CT) haul, posing a significant risk to the public finances, a new report has warned. Eoin has the story.

In her column, Laura Slattery looks at what a Ladybird book from 1969 can tell us about the newspaper industry today.

Cantillon looks at what next for the luxury industry as the conspicuous spending of recent years gets replaced by less ostentatious, more “quiet” spending, and the declining fortunes of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Boeing has cleared out its top ranks as the fallout from the near disaster on an Alaska Airlines 737 continues unabated. It’s CEO, chairman and top sales executive are all leaving the firm.

The European Union (EU) has launched probes into Apple, Alphabet and Meta in the first use of a landmark new law designed to rein in Big Tech’s market power. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced official probes on Monday into whether Apple and Google owner Alphabet were unduly favouring their own app stores, as well as Facebook owner Meta’s use of personal data for advertising. The three tech companies employ well over 12,000 people in the Republic.

The number of consumer complaints to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) went up by 8.3 per cent last year. A total of 7,732 complaints and queries were handled by the FSAI advice line over the period. There were 4,395 complaints from consumers, with 31.9 per cent of them relating to poor hygiene standards, 27.2 per cent relating to unfit food and 26.7 per cent to suspected food poisoning. Colin Gleeson reports.

A new £75 million (€87.5 million) investment fund managed by Northern Ireland’s Whiterock is to target growing companies in the North, addressing a gap in the local market for growth funding. Ciara O’Brien has the details.

In Your Money, Dominic Coyle answers questions on how to deal with an executor of a will when they are no longer able to carry out their duties, and a single mother locked out tax credits.

Finally, sailor and cyclist Annalise Murphy tells if she is a saver or a spender.

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