Property - Property & Construction News - Auctioneer urges definitive action on ghost estates

Ghost estates need to be completed or demolished before any meaningful recovery can occur in the property market, according to a leading estate agent.

James Nugent, managing director of Lisney, said the future of the market also hinged on improvements in policy and planning

"Until such time as the ghost estates issues is resolved, we won't be able to move on," he said. "Some estates may need to be demolished, while others may eventually be finished or used for social purposes. But this will depend on how much of the construction is complete, and the location and the quality of the estates."

Nugent said cooperation from financial institutions was required to tackle the issue, especially in rural areas where there may be two or three ghost estates in one village or small town. "What is viable must be supported, what isn't should be knocked down, and the burden should be shared across the banks and developers. Some adult conversation must be had," he said.

Nugent was speaking at a Lisney seminar which took place last Friday in conjunction with the Downey Hynes Partnership. Another speaker, John O'Connor of the Housing Agency, agreed with Nugent.

"We need to finish off any housing that's nearly complete and either sell it or rent it," he said.

William Hynes, director of the Downey Hynes Partnership, said a major move needed to be made away from conventional planning to evidence-based planning. He said the planning process was not sufficiently evidence-based at present, and that it was critical for the future of the market that it was.

"Planning needs to founded on realistic assessments of projected future growth or decline," he said. "We need to target development and investment in specific areas. The focus must be on job creation and innovation."

Austin Hughes, chief economist with KBC, said one of the main issues during the boom was that attention was not paid to the quality or location of housing stock. "We need to ensure the right policy and planning are there to ensure it doesn't happen again," he said. He said the economic environment would remain "tricky" and "fragile", and said he could not see the Greek situation improving soon.

"There are tentative signs in the employment figures and other indicators that change is on the way, but it will remain fragile for the next three to four years at least," he said.

The economist predicted that, five years from now, credit would still not be freely available. Hughes said KBC's latest figures showed property purchase sentiment was worse than overall consumer sentiment.

"People are very nervous about property at the moment. Our findings are much more gloomy than [a recent study from] Daft.ie. There is continued uncertainty about jobs and financing, but having said that, the major correction in house prices has happened," he said.

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