Gormley seeks comments on changes to building act

ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley is inviting comments on amendments to Part M of the Building Regulations Act 1997, due to come into operation in July 2010.

The new conditions will make it mandatory for wheelchair/ disability access to all dwellings, where previously they had only applied to new residential builds.

Effectively, any extension, or even bathroom renovation will now have to follow the guidelines set down for disabled access.

The closing date for submissions on the new amendment is October 19, 2009.

* IRISH house prices have dropped 9.2% in value from April to June of this year, and by 18-20% since January, according to auctioneers’ body the IAVI.

Munster values dropped most of all in the second quarter, by 10.7%.

“Although prices have not hit the bottom yet, they are extremely close to doing so,” says Simon Ensor of IAVI.

The report comes as the latest Daft report shows asking price have fallen by 20% over the last 12 months. This is a nationwide drop of almost 6% for the second quarter of the year, according to the latest report by the property website.

The national average asking price now stands at €263,000 – 19% lower than this time a year ago and 23% lower than the peak in 2007.

The average time-on-market for residential sale properties has gone out to seven months, v six weeks during the boom.