Rents and mortgages worsen cost of living
Rent increases and the highest mortgage rates in the Eurozone are worsening a cost-of-living crisis in Ireland, new figures showed on Wednesday.
Market rents in the final quarter of 2021 were 10.3 per cent higher than the same period in 2020, according to figures from Daft.ie. With just under 1,400 rental properties available across the State, low availability of stock has continued to push rent increases.
Ireland also once again has the highest mortgage rates in the Eurozone despite rates being at record lows in the country, new data from the Central Bank of Ireland shows, adding thousands in a year to the cost of living.
Retrofitting landlords
Landlords will be closely monitored to ensure that tenants are not evicted on the pretext of retrofitting being carried out, according to Green party leader Eamon Ryan.
Under plans rubberstamped by the Cabinet on Tuesday, homeowners will be able to apply for grants to cover up to half of the cost for a deep retrofit of their homes, with the scheme aiming to retrofit almost a third of the country’s housing stock by 2030.
Minister Ryan also said that the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) website had been overwhelmed overnight since the retrofit grant scheme was announced. The public were interested. “People want to do the right thing,” he said.
Three hospitalised in Mayo crash
Three people are in hospital following a serious road traffic collision between a car and a HGV truck in Mayo.
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following the incident on the N5 between Charlestown and Swinford at around 12.25am on Wednesday morning.
A man, aged in his 70s, who was a passenger in the car was seriously injured. A second passenger in the car, a woman aged in her 50s, was also seriously injured. The driver of the car sustained what are understood to be non-life threatening injuries.
Teen arrested after Kildare burglary
Gardaí have arrested a teenager following an aggravated burglary in Co Kildare.
The incident left a 72-year-old man in a serious but stable condition after he was assaulted during the course of the burglary.
According to gardaí, a number of men gained entry into a lockup shed at approximately 9.30pm on Tuesday in Adrass Lower, Celbridge and were attempting to remove property when they were disturbed by the man who owned the shed.
