CURRENT VACANCY RATES UNSUSTAINABLE - UCD RESEARCH - 170,000 houses in Ireland are surplus to current requirements and that number is likely to increase because of recession. The vacancy rate is unsustainable, according to a new report from UCD's Urban Institute Ireland which also questions whether NAMA will be a help or a hindrance to the property market long term.
The report's lead author, Dr Brendan Williams, says that UCD has tried to approach the report in three stages: identifying the scale of the problem and admitting that there is actually a problem with numbers; preventative action to stop the problem getting worse; and an examination of how the NAMA process will be involved in the management and later work that will have to be done with the properties.
He says one of the reasons the property market is in such bad shape is the issue of zoning and re-zoning and the pressures that has played in the whole planning and development system here. He says the zoning and re-zoning of lands acts as an accelerator for development. He says that if the accelerator has proven to be faulty, then it should be replaced or reformed. Mr Williams points out that the same zoning system that brought about the current situation still exists and he urges this system to be changed.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Fruit importer Fyffes has reported a 33% increase in pre-tax profits to €21.2m for the year ending December 2009 as the company increased its selling prices to offset the impact of higher costs and adverse currency movements. Total revenues fell by 4.1% to €726.8m
*** Aer Lingus said its total passenger numbers fell by 3.5% in February compared to the same time last year. The airline said it flew a total of 664,000 passengers last month, down from the 688,000 in February 2009. Its long-haul passenger numbers slumped 32.4% to 46,000 after big cuts in capacity. Its short haul passenger numbers slipped by 0.3% to 618,000.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.3582 cents and 90.37 pence sterling.
