Author: Practicenet

With so many seemingly attractive offers out there to lure first time buyers it can be hard to navigate the mortgage market. We spoke to Áine Carroll, Director of Communications and Marketing Insights of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) about how first-time buyers can cut through the noise in the mortgage market and […]

Eurozone countries remain vulnerable to another crisis because they don’t have the fiscal space to absorb future shocks, the outgoing head of the Eurogroup has warned. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads up the group of finance ministers from the 19 euro area countries, said the bloc’s capacity to deal with future shocks is “very thin”. “You […]

The cost of building a two-bedroom apartment is way in excess of the selling price, meaning few developments are likely to go ahead unless the Government tackles Vat, levies and other costs, a new report claims. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (CSI) says it is cheaper to build a three-bedroom semi-detached house than an […]

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has issued an unapologetic defence of his decision to increase the rate of stamp duty on commercial property transactions from 2pc to 6pc in the Budget. Responding to questions on the matter at Davy’s annual conference, held in Dublin last Thursday night, he made it clear that he would not bow […]

If your loan is sold to a vulture fund or another bank all of the original contracts remain the same – though that includes the obligation to make repayments. AIB isn’t selling residential home loans, which carry special protections. While the legal situation doesn’t change, the lender’s approach can. In some cases vulture funds are […]

If only there was a simple formula for predicting market crashes, we’d all get rich. (Well, those who knew it would). But there isn’t. Except that, just maybe, there might be when it comes to housing. A tall claim – and one I don’t intend betting money on. Even if I were legally entitled to […]

Ireland is a high cost location for small firms, according to Linda Barry, assistant director at the Small Firms Association (SFA). Addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Business, Enterprise and Innovation yesterday, Ms Barry said that many SFA members were operating in low margin environments, making it difficult for them to absorb cost increases. In […]

Families have been given fresh hope that their tracker nightmare will end this year, after the Government threatened to hit banks with massive tax bills if they do not rectify the mess. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the behaviour of the banks was “scandalous” after it emerged that lenders are actively frustrating the efforts of regulators. […]

A year-old pact underpinning billions of dollars of transatlantic data transfers won a green light from the European Union yesterday after a first review to ensure the US protects Europeans’ data stored on American servers. The EU-US Privacy Shield was agreed last year after everyday cross-border data transfers were plunged into limbo when the EU’s […]

AIB is preparing to launch the largest non-performing loan sale in its history next month as it embarks on the final phase of its post-crisis balance sheet purge amid a fresh crackdown on the sector from the European Central Bank. It is understood soured loans with a face value of close to €2bn will be […]