Building costs go boom boom: Anyone planning to build a once-off house should get a copy of Bruce Shaw's latest handbook which delves into the costs of building residential and commercial space around the State.
Shaw estimates the cost of building a detached home in Dublin runs at €1,861 per sq m - €450 per sq m more than in Cork, Galway or Limerick. The most expensive city after Dublin is Limerick where the cost is €1,410 per sq m. The fees allow for demolition costs, Vat of 13.5 per cent of building costs and 21 per cent on professional fees. Come to think of it, not too many people are building once-off houses these days as infill sites are being snapped up by small builders who have no difficulty in getting permission for blocks of apartments. However, many harassed householders who are carrying out refurbishment to old houses might question Bruce Shaw's figures because the reality is that, with builders in huge demand, those who are available seem to be making a killing on domestic jobs. Watch out too for the cost of building supplies in the DIY stores which we hear are creeping up in advance of the payout from the SSIA schemes, as builders apparently stockpile for the mini boom that's coming.
Serious in Stillorgan
Good luck to Treasury Holdings as it tries, yet again, to win over Stillorgan locals to its plans for the shopping centre. Three attempts to enlarge it have been blocked by An Bord Pleanála, so now it's serious. Treasury is asking residents what they want, not only on the shopping centre site, but also on the Bondi disco site formerly known as Blakes. The company has planning for a 12-storey commercial and apartment block in the nightclub site, and the two-day consultation - tomorrow and Saturday in Kilmacud Crokes GAA Club - might show that Treasury may change its plans here in return for some compromise on the shopping centre. They face formidable opposition from middle class residents not pushed about new shopping centres. Many are retired with time to consider the issues and argue until the cows come home with developers.
Barcelona bound
For the third year running the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute it taking its members on a foreign jaunt for its annual conference. Today, over 130 of the delegates are heading for Barcelona for a three-day session that will be geared towards the social side of the business. The overseas trip doesn't normally attract some of the more senior players, as those who are on the up have open houses to attend to. This may be why the IAVI is to revert to conferences at home from 2007. A big issue for auctioneers is the IAVI's introduction of advised minimum values (AMVs) to take some of the confusion out of the auction guide price drama. The retiring chief executive of the rival Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV), Liam O'Donnell, is not amused by the IAVI's stance, and says AMVs are having a serious negative effect on the market. The auction system, he says, is in good health and should not be tinkered with. Punters seem to be more confused than ever about guides, and with many auctions producing prices well ahead of AMVs from IAVI members, the problem ain't going away. The IPAV's view is that any attempt to impose constrictions on how a vendor chooses to market his property is a "non starter and infringes on the rights of the seller". Sounds like good sense to us.
