Average rents soar by 12.6% as supply of homes plunges
Market rents in the second quarter of this year were an average of 12.6 per cent higher than the same period a year earlier, according to the latest report from property website Daft.ie.
The average market rent nationwide between April and June was €1,618 per month, up 3.3 per cent on the first three months of the year, the report states.
The annual inflation rate of 12.6 per cent nationally is the highest recorded in the Daft.ie report since its launch in 2006, surpassing the previous peak of 11.8 per cent in late 2016.
HSE begins Covid-19 booster roll-out for ages 60 and over
The HSE is inviting people aged 60 and over and pregnant women to make an appointment for a booster vaccine.
Appointments for the cohort will be available from August 15th.
While people in the 50-64 age group with long-term health conditions will be invited for a booster does over the coming weeks.
Booster vaccines can be booked online at HSE vaccination clinics and with participating GP and pharmacies.
Met Éireann issues status yellow high temperature warning
A heat warning has been issued for 18 counties in Ireland by Met Éireann.
The forecaster’s status yellow high temperature warning comes into effect for all counties in Leinster and Munster from noon on Thursday and will remain in place until 6am on Sunday.
On Wednesday, it wil be a warm, dry and sunny day with light breezes.
Highest temperatures of 23 to 27 degrees, highest in Leinster and Munster.
It will be a little cooler in coastal parts of the northwest where winds will be moderate southwest to west.
It is expected to be “very warm or hot on Thursday, Friday and Saturday”, with maximum temperatures to go up to 27-29C.
Met Éireann said it will also be warm at night, with temperatures generally staying above 15C.
Text message scams cost victims average of €1,700 so far this year
Victims of text message scams or ‘smishing’ were tricked out of an average of €1,700 during the first half of this year, according to new figures from FraudSMART, the fraud awareness initiative led by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
These text messages scams have almost doubled in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.
The figures also show that over the same period businesses were conned out of an average of €14,000 due to invoice fraud.
One-third of fast track housing developments begun since 2017
Work has begun on only one-third of housing developments approved under the Governments fast track scheme introduced in 2017.
According to the Irish Examiner, a total of 277 developments have been approved under the strategic housing development (SHD) programme, but only 100 of those have begun construction.
The programme was introduced by former Minister for Housing Simon Coveney under the Rebuilding Ireland Scheme.
The scheme was due to be phased out in December 2021, however, 41 new schemes comprising almost 12,000 new units have been granted permission since.
