Scrappage Scheme to help housing market

[seabhcan]

Germany introduced a scrappage scheme for cars - scrap your old car and get a tax break on buying a new car. It make good sense in Germany because they have lots of old cars on the roads and they actually produce new cars in Germany.

In Ireland we have large amounts of old, run down housing and retail space. In Limerick, for example, large sections of the city center is composed of decrepid buildings from the 60's or even the 19th century. Standing along side it is sparkling new, modern - and empty - retail space.

In Dublin, large sections of the north inner city, and parts of the south city, are poor quality private housing. Cold, damp, one story, bad or nonexistant central heating... what used to be called slums before they were each traded at half a million during the tiger years. I have places like the Dundrum road, and large parts of Drumcondra particularly in mind.

Standing near these buildings are large, modern, warm, clearn and mold-free appartment buildings - lots of it completely empty.

I propose a scrappage scheme for housing. Zero stamp duty on buying a new house or retail space if you sell old and run down property for re-development. The old building should be knocked within a defined period of the sale.

The plan would deal with the oversupply of housing and retail space, and get the market moving again. It would also put the constuction industry back to work, albeit, deconstructing the old buildings. It would also free up large under-used parts of our cities for redevelopment.

To get the ball moving, I propose that the state buy some of the land to make a series of small city parks - at least temporary parks until the land is needed again.

[crocked]

are you proposing to reinflate the construction industry and make the developers even richer...

[goosebump]

Germany introduced a scrappage scheme for cars - scrap your old car and get a tax break on buying a new car. It make good sense in Germany because they have lots of old cars on the roads and they actually produce new cars in Germany.

In Ireland we have large amounts of old, run down housing and retail space. In Limerick, for example, large sections of the city center is composed of decrepid buildings from the 60's or even the 19th century. Standing along side it is sparkling new, modern - and empty - retail space.

In Dublin, large sections of the north inner city, and parts of the south city, are poor quality private housing. Cold, damp, one story, bad or nonexistant central heating... what used to be called slums before they were each traded at half a million during the tiger years. I have places like the Dundrum road, and large parts of Drumcondra particularly in mind.

Standing near these buildings are large, modern, warm, clearn and mold-free appartment buildings - lots of it completely empty.

I propose a scrappage scheme for housing. Zero stamp duty on buying a new house or retail space if you sell old and run down property for re-development. The old building should be knocked within a defined period of the sale.

The plan would deal with the oversupply of housing and retail space, and get the market moving again. It would also put the constuction industry back to work, albeit, deconstructing the old buildings. It would also free up large under-used parts of our cities for redevelopment.

To get the ball moving, I propose that the state buy some of the land to make a series of small city parks - at least temporary parks until the land is needed again.

Germany actually did something like this with property in East Germany after re-unification.

It cost them a fortune, however.

It would cost us a fortune too, as a lot of that property needs to be sold at a decent rate so that loans to banks can be repaid (ie so we don't have to make up the difference).

However, some sort of scheme re. vacant property would be a good idea, provided it doesn't overly impair the value of the property.

[darkhorse]

being a devils advocate, could it cause the destruction of older properties of character only to be replaced by newer faceless monstrocities?

[seabhcan]

being a devils advocate, could it cause the destruction of older properties of character only to be replaced by newer faceless monstrocities?

It would have to be well designed not to, but there is no shortage of old faceless characterless monstrocities that could be knocked, and plenty of newer buildings already built, but empty. So we'd have a lot of work to do before we got near destroying anything of real value.

[seabhcan]

Germany actually did something like this with property in East Germany after re-unification.

It cost them a fortune, however.

It would cost us a fortune too, as a lot of that property needs to be sold at a decent rate so that loans to banks can be repaid (ie so we don't have to make up the difference).

However, some sort of scheme re. vacant property would be a good idea, provided it doesn't overly impair the value of the property.

Reducing supply and increasing trade in property should support prices rather than drop them.

Also, if offering zero stamp duty is enough of an incentive, it should cost the state nothing, as these transactions would not have taken place anyway.

[Diatom]

No one is going to finance this.

It's a band aid for a decapitation victim.

[Gimpanzee]

Cool idea - lets pay the unemployed to knock down everything over 100 years old. Lets start with Kildare Street and work their way down to Ballsbridge from there

[Dios]

Reducing supply and increasing trade in property should support prices rather than drop them.

You aren't reducing supply since you build a new building for every one that you knock over. You aren't increasing trade since people aren't buying regardless of the incentives. And why oh why would you want to support prices?

[blacbloc]

Speechless. Can scarcely credit that anyone living in the middle of the property-related shenanigans that have destroyed us could come up with this idea, at this time. What in the name of God would you want to increase prices for at a time when people's incomes are going down, and many more again are losing their jobs. Don't you even begin to understand what is going on Seabhcan, in all seriousness? We need to forget about property. We dont need anymore of it for a long time. We need to build all the other woefully neglected aspects of our economy and never, ever again put ourselves in a situation where so many are so vulnerable to so few.