IT’S not all gloom and doom for estate agents out there. Some are actually benefitting from the downturn. Take the Lansdowne Partnership, a small low profile agency set up in the late 1990s that now appears to be blossoming, taking on no less than eight new staff and surrently seeking a property manager.

It’s found a new niche for itself acting as a management and sales agent for a number of developments that have run into difficulties (see page 1). The company now manages and lets 242 apartments at The Gasworks complex in Dublin’s south docks, built by Liam Carroll, and left unsold.

Lansdowne also looks after another rented development of 85 apartments at Island Key in East Wall, Dublin 3, that has also fallen into the hands of receivers. Many of the schemes Lansdowne is handling will be rented out, rather than sold in the short term, according to director Fergal Hopkins. “If there are 100 empty apartments that aren’t sold in a development, the receiver might decide to take a three-to-five-year view and generate income from them.”

Hopkins says too many panic fire sales would have a detrimental effect on values. “In a recession there’s no need to panic if things are managed properly.” Let’s hope he’s right.