Pyrite scheme falls short

The ROI pyrite redress scheme is leaving homeowners significantly out of pocket as the grant available to rebuild pyrite affected homes works on a per sqm basis.

One homeowner speaking to Mayo Live said the subsidy for her 94sqm home didn’t come close to covering the cost of rebuilding, leaving her €102k out of pocket. Pyrite is a mineral that deteriorates concrete blocks over time, to the point that houses are crumbling. Affected property owners must apply to their local authority for the ‘Enhanced Grant Scheme for the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks in their Construction’. Currently only homes in counties Clare, Donegal, Limerick and Mayo are eligible but cases have emerged further afield, including in NI.

House price drop

In Q2 2023, house prices fell slightly in ROI, by 0.5 per cent according to daft.ie, but increased in NI by 0.7 per cent according to building society Nationwide.

According to those same sources, the national house price average in ROI was €309.6k and in NI £182.7k in June 2023. Mainland UK recorded price decreases, with some regions seeing house values drop by 4.7 per cent. This coincided with a record low number of house completions in the UK, according to S&P Global, at a 14 year low excluding the Covid period.

In ROI the Central Bank estimates there will be 27,500 houses built in 2023, 1,500 below the current 29,000 target.