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Retrofitting and upgrading your home

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By Ted Healy of DNG TED HEALY

The Cabinet this week announced substantial financial supports to help people retrofit and upgrade their homes.

A number of different schemes will help homeowners insulate or retrofit their homes to tackle heating and energy prices and fight the climate emergency.

The home energy upgrade scheme will cover almost half the cost (45-51%) of a retrofit that would improve a home's energy efficiency to a high B2 rating.

The scheme is one of the centrepieces of the Government’s Climate Action Plan and there is a target of retrofitting 500,000 homes to BER B2 standard by 2030 and installing 400,000 heat pumps. An extra incentive has been put on the Government due to the spiralling costs of household bills as inflation continues to rise.

Grants of more than €25,000 will be offered to individual householders to help pay for deep retrofits to make their homes warmer and more energy efficient. The average cost of a retrofit is calculated at about €50,000.
It will also provide 80% grants for minor works, such as insulating attics or cavity walls. Bringing a property's rating from as low as E up to B would reduce the heating bills by as much as two thirds.

The sums on offer depend on how much work a householder will be getting on their homes. The grants are fixed and applied per measure like the installation of a heat pump or external wall insulation.

One example of the kind of support on offer is the State contributing €26,000 of the €53,000 cost of deep-retrofitting works on an average hollow block semi-detached home with an E2 rating.

Schemes such as the free energy upgrades will have income limits but the main schemes in the programme will be open to all homeowners.

All-in-one service

The key part of the plan will be the rollout of “one-stop shops” that will offer a simplified all-in-one service for applicants. The size of the grant and work needed will differ from property to property. An assessment will be done in a one-stop shop, which will be run by a private company, with SEAI oversight for quality control purposes.

This will arrange an assessment of the property in the first instance, as well as construction and paperwork required for the grant application. It will organise a finished assessment afterward in order to establish the new rating.

This is a change from the existing system, where homeowners have to organise the application and construction work themselves. It is thought the new system will make the process much more simple.

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Paralympic legend Jason Smyth visits St Brendan’s

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Paralympic legend Jason Smyth visits St Brendan’s


World renowned Paralympian and world record holder Jason Smyth paid a visit to St Brendan’s College on Wednesday afternoon as part of a high profile visit to Killarney.


The six time Paralympic gold medallist spoke to second year students from St Brendan’s College, alongside students from neighbouring schools St Brigid’s Presentation Secondary School and Killarney Community College.
The interactive talk and interview took place ahead of World Sight Day, with the legendary sprinter sharing his personal journey with Stargardt disease, a genetic eye condition that left him legally blind at eight years old.
The Derry native, who holds the world record as the fastest Paralympian on earth over 100 metres, offered inspiring insights into overcoming physical adversity and achieving success at the highest level of world sport.
The school visit formed the opening leg of his Killarney schedule before he took centre stage later on Wednesday evening at The Killarney Plaza Hotel & Spa.
Smyth headlined An Evening with Paralympian Jason Smyth, an event organised by the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce as part of its winter schedule, sponsored by AIB.

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Deerpark Retail Park placed on market for fifteen million euro

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Deerpark Retail Park in Killarney has officially been placed on the market with a guide price in excess of 15.4 million euro, excluding VAT.

International real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed as the sole sales agent to handle the high-profile commercial property sale on behalf of its current owner, Investcorp.

Investcorp, a global investment management firm headquartered in Bahrain, had previously acquired the prominent shopping complex.


The sale represents one of the largest commercial property offerings to launch in County Kerry this year.

Located roughly 1.3 kilometres west of Killarney town centre, the scheme enjoys strong regional connectivity and sits adjacent to independently owned operations including a Tesco Extra store, a Tesco petrol filling station, JYSK, and Aldi.


Constructed in 2006, the development extends across approximately 10,482 square metres, or 112,835 square feet.

The scheme comprises a mix of modern retail warehouse units and a complementary neighbourhood centre, offering 13 individual units in total with Part Open and Part Bulky Use planning permission.

The units range in size from 94.6 square metres up to 1,994.9 square metres. Visitors have access to approximately 248 customer parking spaces across the commercial grounds.

The park is currently 100 per cent occupied by a strong line-up of established national and international brands.

Key retail tenants include Marks & Spencer, Boots, DID Electrical, Maxi Zoo, and Mountain Warehouse.

The neighbourhood centre element accommodates service and convenience operators such as Costa Coffee, Card Factory, and Salon B.

The first-floor accommodation is fully let to Peak Performance Academy, which provides additional rental diversification.

Additionally, the scheme benefits from an agreement with Tesla to operate eight electric vehicle charging bays within the customer car park.


Commercial figures show that the property generates a total current rental income of 1,326,458 euro per annum, with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 4.45 years to break options and 6.46 years to lease expiry.

Cushman & Wakefield noted that the quoted guide price of 15.4 million euro reflects a net initial yield of 7.83 per cent, assuming standard purchaser costs of 9.96 per cent.

The selling agents highlighted that the fully occupied asset offers investors an attractive income profile alongside scope for additional income generation through parking commercialisation.

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