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EU HOUSING ALLIANCE

Sunday Property Round-Up 28th June 2026

Sunday Property Round-Up 28th June 2026 

Weekly Irish property market news and insights – for the industry, by the industry

EU HOUSING ALLIANCE

I rarely have positive news to lead with so I welcome the decline in homelessness figures this month. 

While we braced ourselves for the usual/newest ‘new record high’, we learned of 101 additional people being housed. While the figure still stands at an unacceptably high 17,447 – including 5,583 children – in emergency accommodation, hopefully this is the start of a downwards trend. However, it’s important to point out the rising trend in homeless people aged 65 or older (currently 265, with over half in Dublin).

This news comes in the same week that the Housing minister says he has stopped estimating when homeless numbers will drop: James Browne said it is instead more important to “maximise the delivery of homes” by changing construction regulations – it’s a politically brave thing to say, but we welcome this singular focus on delivery.

His confidence is not shared.

At their annual budget perspective, ESRI economists said there is little evidence that the Government will be able to boost house-building to its target of about 50,000 or 60,000 units annually by the end of the decade, despite an expected jump in completions this year.

HOUSING CRISIS vs. HOUSING EMERGENCY

The European Housing Alliance held its first meeting in Brussels last week, with next steps including a call for evidence on how housing can be delivered quickly – and, significantly, it was confirmed that emergency-scale responses will be considered. Ireland offers two recent precedents: the rapid delivery of healthcare buildings during Covid and modular housing for Ukrainian arrivals, both of which moved at pace by bypassing traditional planning and procurement routes and resequencing building compliance – temporarily and transparently. 

The latest data from Daft shows that Dublin house prices are falling (down 2.3%) as the rural market continues to surge (up 8.8%). It must be pointed out here that the ‘average’ or median figures here are doing a lot of heavy lifting, with pockets of variance across the country, according to agents I spoke with this week

The IPOA is warning that the rental market is “on verge of collapse”, with landlords exiting the market years before they had initially planned due to government policy. This is even more pronounced in rural areas, with rural depopulation a real threat in the face of no/low rental stock and delays in addressing rural planning.

We have been told that the new rural planning rules – encompassing the EU initiatives of ‘Right to Stay’ (on your own land and in your own area) and ‘Live where you serve’ – will go before cabinet next week. Interestingly, with just the threat of rural planning changes, planning permissions for one-off homes increased by 12.5% over the past quarter – which means the current rules were never the problem, but rather, discretionary application of them. 

Also, the Critical  Infrastructure Bill was enacted this week to fast-track key energy, water and transport projects, while the High Court refused leave to appeal over the Shannon LNG Project. Judge Humphreys’ ruling is seen as a significant step in Ireland’s planning system for major infrastructure projects.

Finally, for some POSITIVE PLACE ENGAGEMENT, Place Engage‘s: 26-Week, 26-County Placemaking tour kicks off this week on iProperty Radio, where we will travel to a different county each week for the duration of Ireland’s EU Council Presidency (from July 1st)  to hear from people on the ground about their places. This week we will be in Dublin, contact me directly to get involved,

PROPERTY DISTRICT PRESS OFFICE 

Below are the local and international stories that might be of particular interest:

  • Ireland’s Homeless Total Falls Slightly in May but More Than 17,400 Remain in Emergency Accommodation: A monthly decline of 101 people offers limited relief as homelessness remains close to record levels, with more than 5,500 children still living in emergency accommodation.
Ireland’s Homeless Total Falls Slightly in May but More Than 17,400 Remain in Emergency Accommodation
  • DUBLIN house prices fall for first time in two years as rural market continues to surge – Daft report finds a widening urban-rural divide, with transaction prices in Dublin down 2.3% year-on-year while asking prices in Connacht and Ulster rise by 8.8% amid persistent shortages of second-hand homes
Dublin house prices fall for first time in two years as rural market continues to surge
  • Mortgage lending at credit unions tops €1bn for the first time: Banks report surge in mortgage approvals in May

https://www.independent.ie/business/money/mortgage-lending-at-credit-unions-tops-1bn-for-the-first-time/a/157783743.html

  • CRITICAL Infrastructure Bill Enacted to Fast-Track Key Energy, Water and Transport Projects – New legislation introduces priority approval process for nationally significant infrastructure aimed at accelerating housing and economic development
Critical Infrastructure Bill Enacted to Fast-Track Key Energy, Water and Transport Projects
  • New research suggests the number of homes affected by defective concrete blocks could be greater than initially thought. An analysis of housing estates in Donegal, Mayo, Clare and Limerick indicates the estimated number of properties built with defective blocks could rise to 20,000. https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0623/1579993-defective-concrete-blocks/
  • Short-term letting platforms to face huge fines if they allow people without planning permission to advertise: New laws being introduced by the Government will introduce an administrative sanction of up to 2% of their turnover for companies that break the rules, significantly higher than previously proposed levies https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41867322.html

EU POLICY & RESEARCH IMPACTING HOUSING DELIVERY 

  • The European Housing Alliance held its first meeting in Brussels last week, with next steps including a call for evidence on how housing can be delivered quickly – and, significantly, it was confirmed that emergency-scale responses will be considered. Ireland offers two recent precedents: the rapid delivery of healthcare buildings during Covid and modular housing for Ukrainian arrivals, both of which moved at pace by bypassing traditional planning and procurement routes and resequencing building compliance – temporarily and transparently https://caroltallon.com/housing-moves-up-the-european-agenda-insights-from-the-first-meeting-of-the-european-housing-alliance/ 

If you missed last week’s round-up, you can catch up here: https://ipropertyradio.com/sunday-property-round-up/ 

As always, you might let me know if I have missed out on any relevant property news by emailing carol@caroltallon.com 

PLACEMAKING: https://placeengage.com

Open public consultations and community engagement, in association with the Public Consultation Institute of Ireland

  • Beautiful – Sustainable – Together: Aligned with Aarhus Convention transparency and New European Bauhaus principles, PLACEengage empowers communities, planners, and developers across Ireland’s public and private sectors to collaborate more effectively — Learn more at www.PLACEengage.com PLACEengage: Better placemaking, together.

Rural, Coastal & Islands

  • Story of iconic Fastnet Lighthouse to feature in new €1m West Cork coastal visitor centre: The Inis centre will bring together Cape Clear Island’s ancient past, its maritime heritage and the lived experiences of its people. https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-41867667.html

CONSTRUCTION: https://breakingground.news 

Breaking Ground News: Appointments & Construction Careers

  • BGN Construction Careers, your weekly newsletter from Breaking Ground news, keeps you updated on the latest job opportunities, while showcasing the very best employer brands and projects, across Ireland’s construction industry. Whether you are looking for your next role or planning your career path, stay connected with us for new openings, upskilling opportunities and industry news. Get all the latest job details straight to your inbox: Sign up https://breakingground.news/sign-up-form/

Breaking Ground: Construction Podcast 

🎙️ Inside Ceannt Station: conserving 175 years of heritage while constructing Ireland’s gateway to the western region 

This episode of iProperty Radio goes on site at Galway’s Ceannt Station, recorded inside the newly opened train hall as services run around us. Host Carol Tallon is joined  by Liam Boyce of Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail/ IE Architects, Darren Devane, Director of Building at BAM UK & Ireland, and Peter Cox, CEO of Carrig Conservation International Ltd, who has been conservation consultant on the project since 2021.

Originally built in the early 1850s to a design by railway architect John Skipton Mulvany, with cast iron by Richard Turner of Botanic Gardens fame, the station lost roughly half its original train hall in the 1950s to make way for bus maintenance. The current redevelopment reinstates that train hall and takes the station from two platforms to five, building capacity for Galway, the Western Rail Corridor and the wider region west of the Shannon.

We get a first look at the detail some commuters may never notice: the cast iron colonnade that had to be taken off site, strengthened with hidden “intervention steel” and reassembled bolt by bolt; the stone repairs and salvaged fabric; the original limestone staircase uncovered during M&E works; and the reality of delivering all of it in around 30 phases while the station stayed open every single day.

It’s a candid, practical conversation about balancing heritage with modern building standards, the value of an integrated client, contractor, design team and conservation approach, and what a project of this scale means for Galway and the west — plus the story of the nesting pigeons that held up demolition for two months!

For the full visual effect, including Peter Cox’s on-site tour, skip Spotify and watch on YouTube.

Thanks to Katie Tallon MPRII for producing within another challenging but inspiring LIVE  location 👏

(*And if it sounds like we were shouting over the noise of trains, people and construction works — we were!)

📽️ https://youtu.be/cOhO30ed_LA?si=JLssYTSbBLyMknZ7 

🎧 https://open.spotify.com/episode/4jYetUzsjoBxemaF9wCMVe?si=rpZWyXMKRzqJoMP8oowFqg 

 “The Romans, the Greeks, the Renaissance leaders — and most importantly the Wide Streets Commissioners who gave us the Dublin we love — they planned by drawing the future. The best pieces of our city result from that. We replaced it with text.” — Tony Reddy

We recorded this podcast standing inside a building that doesn’t exist yet.

At the Lifesize Plans Ireland facility in Dublin, projected at 1:1 scale all around us, we virtually walked through what will be the tallest residential building in Ireland — a 30-storey tower near Heuston Station, twice the height of Liberty Hall.

It’s the perfect setting for the real question: why does Irish planning still happen on paper — in thousand-page documents almost nobody reads — when we can now walk a scheme before a single block is laid?

Tony Reddy, Chairman of Reddy Architecture + Urbanism, makes the case that Ireland’s “discretionary” system breeds the delay and objection we all live with — and that European cities plan, debate and agree their future in three dimensions. 

John Foley of Lifesize Plans Ireland shows what 1:1 design validation does to de-risk hundreds of millions before foundations go in. 

David McDowell of Reddy Architecture + Urbanism walks us through the live model dropped into the Dublin cityscape.

Then the room opened up:

🔹 Gavin Duffy of RealSim Ltd. — turning objectors into contributors through immersive engagement

🔹 Niall Morrissey of Housing Infrastructure Services Company (HISCo) — funding the shovel-ready infrastructure that unblocks delivery

🔹 Darragh Ryan of Remagin Ireland by Etex — what 1:1 walk-throughs mean for offsite construction

🔹 Richie Carroll of Homely — rent-to-own and unlocking demand

…alongside the homebuilders and delivery teams who joined us live. 

Huge thanks too to John and Emma for hosting us.

The thread through all of it: Urban Development Zones, front-loaded consultation, and a new Planning and Development Act that allows 3D city models but doesn’t yet mandate them. 

The Galway Housing Forum recently  summed it up — a plan “can’t just be a yellow box on a map”. 

The technology is here. The question is whether the system will use it.

🇪🇺 This kicks off iProperty Radio’s non-political Place Engage Placemaking Roadshow, running throughout Ireland’s EU Council Presidency: 26 counties. 26 weeks. One shared conversation about place: Faigheann cos ar siúl rud nach bhfaigheann cos ina chónaí.

*Apologies in advance, the audio for the first few minutes is a bit echoey, but e hit our stride a few minutes in – bear with us – joys of a LIVE event! 

Listen back: https://open.spotify.com/episode/64yBaZl6z2klyuKBibBKsx?si=9yfHGSEYRseWkCus7TJ6iA

Watch in full: https://youtu.be/7XCJZWxTCNs?si=2Lb_kuPAUDJjTSRF

CIF Safety Campaign 2026 Podcast 

On Site with Sisk: Glass Bottle, Ringsend, Dublin 

A look back to the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) Construction Safety Campaign podcast, where Director of Safety, Education & Training, Sean Downey, joins Richard Butler, Head of Occupational Health & Wellbeing,  and Liam Maher, Health Promotion Lead with John Sisk & Son on the Glass Bottle site at Ringsend!

🎙️ Listen on Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/2iIj7t21sgyUsf10aWIinV?si=d_W2fnltRl6RwA3dUqGD_w

📹 Watch in full: https://youtu.be/ISijWVz9upQ?si=kQfnz4ku-Ycm1wWb

Produced by Katie Tallon MPRII

*Recorded on sites across Ireland — from a European HQ in Dublin’s Docklands, to the largest Capex energy project in the State — catch up  the entire 2025 & 2026 series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5hAEpymn6vnhCbgSqe6T8TJTfB9mvD6C&si=ity7U_ANvSSyc0bU

REAL ESTATE: www.irishrealestate.news

Residential 

*Searching for a new home or investment property in Ireland? Join the iProperty Radio FACEBOOK community of property buyers in Ireland 2026: https://www.facebook.com/groups/IrishPropertyBuyers/ 

Commercial 

iProperty Radio: Property Round-Up

VACANT TO VIABLE – Podcast with Triona Stack, Architect & Researcher University College Dublin

❓ What does it actually take to turn an empty space above a shop into a home?

More than most people imagine – and that complexity is part of why so many of these buildings stay vacant.

In the latest iProperty Radio podcast, I sat down with Triona Stack, architect and researcher at UCD School of Architecture, to talk about ‘Vacant to Viable’ – the research asking whether our building regulations create barriers to reusing existing buildings as homes.

The findings are striking.

To bring a vacant over-the-shop property back into use, a single professional – usually the architect – has to navigate roughly 27 acts and statutory instruments, 14 technical guidance documents (TGDs), and around 380 primary citations across Irish, British and European standards. Thousands of pages.

And because different local authority officers across planning and conservation, right through to building control and, specifically, fire regulation, can interpret those rules differently, the same project can face different requirements.

The result? Paralysis. Owners, and sometimes even local authorities, are unsure how to proceed.

But it’s not all daunting. Triona’s team uncovered what they call the “hidden myths” – barriers people believe exist in the regulations but actually don’t – alongside “genius gems” worth knowing about.

Commissioned by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, led by the Irish Green Building Council, and funded through Enterprise Ireland‘s Construct Innovate, this is research with real momentum behind it.

This is a timely conversation, too. It comes just before the iProperty Radio team sets out on its non-political Place Engage Placemaking Roadshow, running throughout Ireland’s EU Council Presidency: 26 counties. 26 weeks. One shared conversation about place.

If you work in architecture, planning, building control, conservation or housing delivery, this research will help.

🎧 Listen back: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2nYXJiqbKHyAUKoTOec64q?si=p1_5ppMxSNKHKYGVJ22ybg 

📹 Watch back: https://youtu.be/vcq6Ce0cLyU?si=VHt3VosIIMAeYpue  

Housing Insights: The Housing Agency Podcast

This practitioner-led series aims to deepen the public’s understanding of housing in Ireland and highlight the work of The Housing Agency.

Hosted by David Silke (Director of Insights & Operations) and Roslyn Molloy (Head of Policy, Practice & Communications), the podcast features insightful interviews with housing experts.

 

🎙️ Links to all episodes at https://ipropertyradio.com/housing-agency/

PROPTECH, CONSTRUCTION TECH & SMART CITIES: https://prop-tech.ie/

Proptech Ireland is updating the database of 2026 Irish technology providers for the built environment – sign up here: https://prop-tech.ie/register/  and email product or service details to hello@prop-tech.ie

  • Proptech Ireland: Ireland’s CONSTRUCTION and REAL ESTATE ESG technologies resource hub. Confused about how and where to start on your ESG journey? Contact us 👉https://prop-tech.ie
  • From Objections to Participation How 3D Planning Could De-Risk Development – Industry leaders say early visual engagement can improve consultation, reduce uncertainty and create better outcomes for communities and developers.
From Objections to Participation How 3D Planning Could De-Risk Development

PODCAST: The Proptech Hot Seat on iPropertyRadio.com

Proptech Hot seat is sponsored by Proptech Ireland, the hub for innovators, investors and industry leaders https://prop-tech.ie/ 

Produced by Katie Tallon, with Hear Me Roar Media on sound https://hearmeroarmedia.com 

All Proptech Hot Seat episodes –  https://ipropertyradio.com/proptech-hot-seat/ 

INFRASTRUCTURE, ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT & BIODIVERSITY

  • Environmentally advanced coastal tanker makes its first ever visit to Galway Port | One of the most environmentally advanced coastal tankers operating in European waters is today making its first ever visit to Galway Port: The vessel arrived carrying a cargo of fuel oil and under a new schedule will call at Galway Port twice monthly Built in 2026 by Ferus Smit Shipyard in Leer, Germany a key feature of the Thun Renew is its ability to operate in emission free mode while sailing in Irish waters, including Galway Bay. This capability represents a significant step forward in reducing the environmental impact of maritime transport and supports Ireland’s wider decarbonisation and sustainability ambitions. https://www.galwaybayfm.ie/galway-bay-fm-news-desk/environmentally-advanced-coastal-tanker-makes-its-first-ever-visit-to-galway-port-224369

INTERNATIONAL

Picture of Carol Tallon

Carol Tallon