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Mirenda O'Donovan's avatar

Jim's sound wasnt great on this podcast?

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Jim Power & Chris Johns's avatar

Yes, wasn’t up to normal standard. Working on it. Hope it didn’t spoil things too much.

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Derek Keogh's avatar

Surprisingly the exit of many occupants during COVID seems to have reversed quickly..imagine where we would be if covid didn't send folks back abroad.....

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Tommy Roche's avatar

Hi Jim/Chris, interesting comments about Eoin o Broin,

With regard to raisng funds for housing, would it be necessary to raise taxes if we could spend the money allocated to housing better.

Some examples

Build to rent on state land (no sales unless it covers replacement)

Copy the Northern Ireland regulation compliance model which costs 1k per unit and is independent plus large developers subsidise small developers

Incorporate the cost of energy efficiency into a property tax that is set at the gains the energy efficiency deliverd over time so in effect its 0 cost to the user and removed from the cost of building

Just some suggestions, there are others.

Jim, you mentioned you were hopeful after said meeting. Could you share with us your reasons

Thanks, Tommy

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Darren's avatar

Jim/Chris, hope you are both well. Interested to hear Jim's thoughts on Airbnb's role in the private landlords leaving the rental market? are they getting a better deal for short term letting? From number of airbnb's available on market compared to declining number of rentals it would suggest it may be linked? do you think govt action is necessary here?

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Jim Power & Chris Johns's avatar

I suspect lack of good data prevents a proper answer to your question. But if AIrBnB is interfering with functioning of the rental market that is clearly a prima facile case for government action. I’m not sure it is the biggest problem however.

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Pádraig MacCionnaith's avatar

In "queue" rather than rocketing prices environments, AirBnb is a lifesaving deviation back to market price for those of us at the back of the queue. I just finished my masters, starting a job in Germany on 60th percentile income, well off for my age. I cannot find a place to live for love nor money. Regulation makes landlords so risk averse they don't let prospective tenants compete in rent but reliability, established income, stability etc. - like applying for a mortgage! The /only/ option is to sublet on AirBnb, booked 6 months in advance for periods of up to 6 months at a time for ~1.5 times typical rents. The reason is that after 6 months the tenants' "protection" regulations kick in. I would happily, happily give my landlord the right to evict me with 6 weeks notice if that meant I could actually stay there.. It's bizarre going from being a poor student to having all this cash that you literally cannot give to anyone for a basic necessity. I don't see how this is any different to those old pictures of people queueing for bread.

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