Ronan Lyons | Personal Website
Ronan Lyons | Personal Website

November 2011

Rent supplement: time for taxpayers to use their market power

The last few Daft.ie Rental Reports have showed remarkable stability in rents in many parts of the country. This post outlines how rent supplement may be acting as a floor on residential rents in Ireland. It compares the ratio between average rents and maximum rent supplement in 2007 and now, which highlights just how serious the problem is. Working tenants can now effectively be outbid by welfare tenants, who have no incentive to haggle, in most parts of the country. Read more

Time to face reality, as rents start to rise for family homes

The latest Daft.ie Rental Report, released today, found that rents nationally rose in the third quarter, for the first time since early 2008. The urban-rural difference in trends persists, though. This post looks at trends by bedroom number, finding rising rents for family homes in most urban segments. A persistence in thinking about one national property market, however, will prevent the response required to keep an adequate supply of competitively priced accommodation. Read more

“Hey, Enda, leave those banks alone!”

The last few days have seen the ECB reduce interest rates unexpectedly, leading to Irish policymakers and regulators threatening financial institutions who did not follow suit. Danish-owned National Irish Bank had planned on increasing its variable rates this week and indications today are that it will still do this. This post discusses that decision and what levers policymakers should – and should not – be using to protect current and future borrowers. Read more

Can Ireland improve its competitiveness while raising taxes?

Making Ireland a more attractive place for FDI, via making it attractive for workers to come and live here is difficult when the environment is one of higher and higher taxes. This post examines Ireland’s changing competitiveness. It first looks at how a family’s mortgage repayment will change between 2005 and 2015. It also examines how after-tax, after-rent income in Ireland compares internationally, finding that significant tax increases are compatible with international competitiveness when offset by falling costs of accommodation. Read more