Pictured: Outgoing SCSI President Roland O’Connell handing over the chain of office to the newly elected President Micheál O’ Connor.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland AGM took place yesterday evening, where Micheál O’ Connor was elected President of the Society for 2013-14.

Pauline Daly was elected as Senior Vice President, while Andrew Nugent was elected as Second Vice President.

In his inauguration speech, Micheál O’ Connor discussed four key areas: Domestic growth and the role of the construction industry therein, highlighting our highly developed expertise and skill sets, analysing data in the property market, and promoting our profession.

He went on to discuss the primary benefits that comes with being a member of the Society, particularly in relation to networking opportunities, and encouraged members to fully utilize the resource that is the SCSI.

A copy of Micheál O’Connor’s speech is available here.

For a full review of the Society’s activities undertaken throughout the year, the SCSI Annual Report 2012/13 is available here.

London, 24th April, 2013: Rental values in the Irish office and industrial sectors have grown for the first time in five years, according to IPD/ICSI Ireland Quarterly Property Index. At 0.2% for offices, and 1.6% for industrials, the growth is the first sign of recovery in the occupier market, which has seen rental values written down by over 48% since December 2008.

The improvements in occupier demand will come as welcome news to a market that is reliant on high income yields. Income returns from Irish property are some of the highest measured globally by IPD, in excess of 10% on an annual basis, which has driven returns, despite continuing falls in capital value.

These income yields have attracted the attention of international investors keen to take advantage of the heavily discounted market that has now delivered higher returns than the UK for the last five quarters. Total returns rose to 1.3% in the first quarter, compared with 0.9% in Q4 2012. Capital values continued to decline, but by a reduced rate of 1.0%, compared with 1.5% in Q4 2012.

The first quarter of the year also saw limited signs of capital growth in selective sectors. Offices in Dublin’s Docklands saw capital values grow by 2.2% in Q1 2013, their second quarter of positive growth, and after declines of over 55% from June 2007. Improvements have also emerged in Central Dublin, where values grew for the first time since the downturn, by 0.3%, while rental growth was 0.3%, positive for the first time in four years.

This rental value growth in the Central Dublin office sector has contributed considerably to the reversal in capital declines. The fear for many investors into the market is that if units cannot be let, a market income return of 10% is irrelevant.

Both are at the prime end of the Irish office sector with large, modern, well let and well connected assets. Both outperformed the 1.3% total return delivered by the City office market in London (according to the IPD UK Monthly Property Index), with the Docklands returning 4.8%, and Central Dublin 2.8%.

A number of ‘big name’ international tenants have moved to Ireland over the last two years, attracted by improved Irish competiveness, low corporation tax, a well-educated young workforce and heavily discounted rents – and this has started to be reflected in the occupier market.

Though recent quarters have shown improving returns in prime areas of the market, helped by reforms implemented by the government last year and stability in the Irish economy have led to more confidence amongst investors, this has been limited to mainly office stock, and has still not been reflected at the headline level.

Office values continued to decline, albeit only very slightly, by 0.04%, while retail and industrial units saw falls of 2.3% and 1.2% respectively. In the retail sector capital declines actually accelerated, from 2.2% in Q4 2012, as consumer confidence and remains low and austerity cuts continued to take hold. The main shopping streets in Dublin, Grafton Street and Henry and Mary Street saw values decline by a further 3.6% and 1.2% respectively.

Retail units saw rents falling by 1.0%, which dragged down the all property rental value movement to which was a negative 0.2% at the headline level for Q1 2013.

Roland O’Connell, President, Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, said, “Good tenant demand combined with no new construction has resulted in a looming shortage of prime office space. This will become increasingly apparent over the remainder of this year. Consequently, demand from investors is not limited solely to prime income-producing buildings but also older, well located buildings which could be refurbished to modern standards.

“In other words, it is already evident that demand is beginning to broaden. Despite the shortage of prime stock, overall vacancy rates will remain relatively high as much of the oversupply is poorly located or in partly occupied buildings which may not yet be ready for refurbishment.”

Phil Tily, IPD Managing Director for UK and Ireland, said, “Though restricted to prime areas of the market, these are the first signs of headline level growth in Ireland for the last six years, which cannot be anything but welcome news for a market that has suffered the deepest property downturn on record.

“For investors willing to move up the risk curve, Ireland presents considerable opportunities, with income returns some of the highest we measure globally. Demand is likely to be for prime stock, modern, well let and well located, and, as in the UK, prime assets offering more income security will lead the way.”

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland recently introduced webcasting for CPD events. ‘Webcasting’ is using the internet to broadcast live streamed events. Going forward, all members of the Society will be able to access CPD Events from any location providing they have an internet connection.

How does it work?

It is as simple as clicking a button! Members will be provided with a url link ahead of each webcasted event and this link will transport them directly to the live event which will bring them to the event  follow the url link at the time of the event and you have access to that event live.

Url links for live or on demand events can also be accessed through this webpage or by looking under ‘CPD’ on the SCSI website.

The next CPD entitled, Disability Access Certificates, is on Thursday, 28^th April at 6pm and will be available here or through the above links.

A special feature of this new webcasting system is that you will be able to interact with the CPD Event for the Q&A’s Session via an instant messaging system.

Benefits of Webcasting

•Potential to reach anyone remotely

•Provides you with the same CPD hours as if you attended in person

•Free of charge for members

•Events are transmitted in real time

•Viewer accessibility

•Eliminates travel expenses

•New learning methods for members

•Consistency

•‘Leading edge’

Some Member Comments

“Excellent concept and simple to use and well done. Congrats to all involved in getting us into the future.” -John Mulcahy, Head of Asset Management

“I didn’t watch live but watched it later in the evening. For me I was always concerned about not being able to attend CPD seminars being based in Clare but with this, not only does it take away the worry of not having enough CPD hours, but it makes so easy and convenient. I was so impressed and a big thank you to all.” -Ronan Arthur BSc (Hons) Assoc. SCSI, Arthur & Lees Auctioneers Ltd

“Great service, particularly for someone like myself in Sligo where it’s difficult to get to lectures.” -Pierce O’Reilly BSc (Hons) MSCSI MRICS, Director -ecoenergyshop.com

“Congratulations on this wonderful initiative. It is an ideal solution for those of us in the industry that has evening appointments.” - Paul Menton FSCSI, Branch Manager, Gunne Residential

• HOUSE REBUILDING COSTS STABILISE IN 2013 – DOWN 24 % SINCE 2008

• REBUILDING COSTS IN DUBLIN REMAIN A THIRD HIGHER

• SURVEYORS ADVISE HOMEOWNERS TO CHECK ‘SUM INSURED’ ON HOME INSURANCE PREMIUMS TO ENSURE THEY AREN’T OVER PAYING ON INDEX-LINKED PREMIUMS

Monday 22^nd April 2013. The latest House Rebuilding Cost guide, published annually by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI), shows that national average house rebuilding costs have stabilised, and are now 24 per cent lower than they were in 2008.

The SCSI said that as many insurance company automatically index-link home insurance premiums, homeowners should check to ensure that their rebuilding costs are adequate and in line with current figures. By doing so, they could avoid over-paying on their premiums.

The average minimum rebuilding costs for a standard 3-bedroom semi-detached house around the country are as follows:

• Dublin – €167,960
• Cork – €129,390.
• Galway – €127,205
• Waterford – €127,205
• Galway – €127,680

Andrew Nugent, Chairman of the Quantity Surveying Professional Group of the SCSI said it was good news for homeowners that rebuilding costs had stabilised.

“The stabilisation in rebuilding costs is good news for homeowners and adds another element of certainty in terms of budgeting for the year ahead. The key for homeowners is to check that their ‘sum insured’ on their home insurance premium is in line with this year’s reinstatement figures available from the Society – to ensure that they are not over-paying or under-insuring for the costs of rebuilding their home in the event of a catastrophe”.

Commenting on the common practice of index-linking home insurance premiums on an annual basis which causes them to increase, Mr Nugent said homeowners should ensure that the stabilisation in rebuilding costs this year is reflected in their insurance premiums, which, all things being equal, should stabilise too.

He attributed the higher reinstatement costs in Dublin in comparison to the rest of the country to higher labour costs in the capital.

The stabilisation follows several years of price falls which meant homeowners could look forward to pro-rata reductions in house premiums.

Mr Nugent said the most important thing for homeowners is to make sure they are neither overpaying their insurance premiums or underinsuring their homes and he reminded homeowners that they can check their house rebuilding costs using a variety of resources available for free from the SCSI.

Homeowners can check their rebuild costs are reflected in their insurance premiums by downloading the 2013 House Rebuilding Cost Guide from the SCSI website here or they can use the SCSI’s Online House Rebuilding Cost Calculator here.

Alternatively they can download the SCSI’s House Rebuilding Cost Calculator App from the iPhone and Android App stores.

Sample Rebuilding Cost Calculation for a 3-Bedroom home in Dublin

Notes for Editor

• The costs included in this guide are a guideline to the MINIMUM value for which you should insure the structure of your house. Applying these rates to the area of your house will give you a base, which you should add to in order to cover other costs, such as boundary walls, garages, fitted kitchens, etc.
• It is sometimes thought that the market value of the house, in other words the price achieved when the property is sold on the open market, is the value for which the property should be insured. This is, however, irrelevant as the market value of a property generally has little relationship to the reinstatement value.
• The costs in this guide are intended to cover typical, speculatively built estate type houses in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick, which were built since the 1960s.
• This is intended to be a guide for rebuilding costs for typical houses. For different types of houses, you should contact your local Chartered Quantity Surveyor on www.scsi.ie

The SCSI welcomes the proposed regulations as they will bring higher standards, improved safety and better transparency in the construction sector, when enacted.

Kevin Hollingsworth, Chair of the Building Surveying Professional Group of the SCSI, said: “The new regulations will go a long way towards mitigating the risks that previously existed, particularly in relation to poor construction, pyrite damage and fire safety breaches. They will require assigned certifiers to inspect the building works at key stages during construction and certify that a completed building complies with the regulations.”

The SCSI said the new mandatory certification process will also ensure greater transparency and accountability from professionals involved at the outset of the project. “This is a positive step in the right direction,” said Mr Hollingsworth.
The SCSI also said it is essential for public trust that the new regulations are enforced after their enactment.

“It is imperative that local authorities have the necessary resources to increase the number of random inspections carried out during the construction process to ensure adequate compliance”, said Mr Hollingsworth.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and the Irish Tax Institute will host a free public information seminar on property tax and valuations on Tuesday 9th April in the Mont Clare Hotel in Dublin at 6pm.  Booking is required by emailing: events@scsi.ie .

The SCSI and Irish Tax Institute, the largest professional bodies in the property and taxation sectors say the seminar will provide key pieces of information and advice to homeowners who are currently receiving Local Property Tax (LPT) returns from Revenue.

Some of the questions which will be addressed on the night include the following:

• How do I self-assess my property?

• The value from the Revenue website is lower than the estimate – which do I pay?

• I have a granny flat adjoining my house – am I liable for Property Tax on this?

• Our Property is in the middle of a farm – what is included in the valuation?

Roland O’Connell, President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland said “Property valuers and tax advisers have been inundated with questions around property tax. It is important the homeowners correctly self-assess the value of their property and use all of the available online tools”.

Irish Tax Institute President Martin Phelan said “The property tax is a self-assessment tax. We would like to provide homeowners with additional support, especially the many people who are engaging in a self-assessment process with Revenue for the very first time.

“We hope that this initiative will help homeowners to complete their Local Property Tax (LPT) returns and that it will complement the comprehensive public information provided by the Revenue Commissioners”, concluded Mr. Phelan.

Today: The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has reminded homeowners that the tax liability figure contained within the Local Property Tax return being issued by Revenue to over 1.6m households nationwide does not constitute a valuation of their property.

The SCSI said that it was important that homeowners were aware of this and highlighted the requirement on homeowners to conduct their own self-assessment of their property value using various online sources and comparables.

Roland O’Connell, President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland said “In order to provide some guidance to homeowners, Revenue has provided an estimate of the average band that properties in a particular area could fall into.

However, homeowners should be made aware of the fact that the figure contained within the return they receive from Revenue is simply an estimation based on averages and in no way constitutes a valuation of their property. If homeowners simply pay the estimated figure provided by Revenue they are at risk of under-or over valuing their property.

To avoid confusion and potential repercussions, our advice is to homeowners is to take the necessary steps to arrive at a value that they believe their property is worth using the many tools and calculators available online.” O’Connell concluded.

Today (21st March): The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has welcomed comments by the Chief Executive of the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) which highlight a renewed interest in financing infrastructure projects in Ireland by international financial institutions.

The SCSI said that while certain projects had been cancelled in the past, it was vital that international banks were provided with a level of certainty in relation to funding large-scale infrastructural projects which were important in terms of service provision and job creation and that this now seems to be happening.

Andrew Nugent, Chair of the Quantity Surveying Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland said “We must continue to develop our infrastructure in areas that support education, healthcare, jobs and further foreign direct investment by multinationals.

The fact that international financial institutions are looking towards Ireland again, together with the leveling off of construction tender prices and signs of increased stability in the wider economy, are all positive indicators for the construction sector”, he concluded.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has urged homeowners around the country to ensure that they are fully informed when self-assessing the value of their home for property tax purposes.

The President of the SCSI Roland O’Connell said it was important that homeowners used all the  information available for comparison purposes and arrived at an accurate valuation within the correct band.

“The property valuation determined now will be used for the next 3 years so it is very important that homeowners, who choose to self-assess the value of their homes, do so diligently and comprehensively to avoid any penalties” O’Connell said.

The SCSI said that homeowners should also be aware of a number of exemptions on property tax, including for first time buyers who are exempt until 2016 if they buy this year. Homeowners should consider the tips below before deciding on a valuation:

1. Determine the market value of the property

• Any house, apartment or lodge which is habitable and which could be sold separately will be subject to the tax.
• The market value of the property must be determined as of 1^st May 2013 and will form the basis of the annual charge for 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Any home improvement changes or increases in property prices during this period will not affect the property tax liability.
• Valuing urban homes in estates in cities should be relatively straightforward using online resources
• Valuing farm houses, one off houses in rural areas and large country houses will present more of a challenge. If two individual units are tied by a planning consent which intrinsically links the two, then in this instance they would count as one dwelling. On the other hand, a main residence with separate ‘granny flat’ may require a return for two residential units. The same would apply to a period house with a staff lodge and gate lodge.

2. How to Value your Property

• The valuation of residential properties is generally done through direct comparison, i.e. if an identical house on the same road recently sold for €300,000 then the value of the house being valued will most likely be €300,000.
• All house price sales from 2010 are listed on www.propertypriceregister.ie . Other resources included the property portals such as www.myhome.ie and www.daft.ie. These websites are useful because the information from the property price register is placed on maps, making it easy to identify where the most recent homes have sold relative to the home being valued.

3. Analysing Comparable Information

• Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that an identical home will have been recently sold and some analysis with adjustments to reflect the differences in size, location, condition and date of sale will be required.
• There is no strict rule on how to draw comparison from nearby sales but adjustments to the values achieved are generally required to reflect the following;
• Location
• Size
• Layout
• Condition
• Specification
• Decoration
• Parking
• Service charge
• Garden aspect
• The above is not an exhaustive list and the individual points can have more or less impact depending on the type and location of the property being valued. More weighting should be applied to the most recent sales evidence of similar type properties with close proximity to the property being valued.
• If it becomes apparent that professional advice is required, it is worth noting that the responsibility still rests with the owner to have a correct valuation. If the valuation advice provided is incorrect then it is the owner who is liable for fines / penalties.
• Landlords should be aware that the Local Property Tax is not currently deductible for tax relief

 4. Ensure your property value is in the correct band

• There are 20 valuation bands starting from €0-€100,000 and ending up at values greater than €1m.
• In determining the amount to pay, Revenue has a calculator available on its website www.revenue.ie
• For valuations over €1m, a precise valuation is required by the Revenue Commissioners in order to accurately calculate the Local Property Tax due.

  5. Filing Local Property Tax Returns

• Payments can be made by bank transfer, or by monthly direct debit, or be made online for which there is an extended deadline of May 28^th
• Another option is to have the tax deducted as source by your employer

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland’s latest video looks at the role that Chartered Surveyors play in society and how the profession is supporting Foreign Direct Investment in Ireland. Click the above image to watch it on our YouTube Channel.