O’Donnellan & Joyce auctioneers and Grant Thornton recently held a public conference in Harbour Hotel for anyone interested in investment properties and self-administered pensions. The John B Keane room was packed to capacity with 152 attendees.
The master of ceremonies for the event, which took place on Thursday March 15, was Colm O’Donnellan of O’Donnellan & Joyce auctioneers, who welcomed the number of expert speakers.
The first speaker to the podium was Aengus Burns of Grant Thornton. Mr Burns introduced the structure of a self-administered pension and how to use it to acquire property tax efficiently. He shared an interesting case study detailing the benefits of purchasing a property as part of an SSAP rather than a personal investment.
Pat Fleming, an independent mortgage broker, was next up, representing ICS mortgages in this instance as it specialises in buy-to let proposition in residential property lending to pension trustees. This product will appeal to individuals who are looking for more options regarding the management of their pension and wish to acquire a buy-to-let property in a tax efficient manner through their pension.
Diarmaid O’Sullivan, the western regional manager of Threshold, an organisation set up to solve people's housing problems, outlined the current shortage in supply of rental accommodation, and the growth of the private rental sector. He also looked in detail the changing nature of the PRS and the attitude of the landlords, including the barriers that exist due to long term renting.
The next speaker was Alan McKenna, senior letting manager at O’Donnellan & Joyce auctioneers. Mr McKenna advised on the current rental market and the taxation issues and highlighted some trends that the company had noticed over the past two years, specifically in relation to the rent caps that have been introduced. The increase in investors buying owner occupier properties to bypass the four per cent rent capping, and the reduction in value of currently rented properties that are restricted from increasing their rent levels in accordance to market values.
Finally, the keynote speaker was Ronan Lyons, economist, Trinity College lecturer, and advisor for premier property website daft.ie Mr Lyons is regarded by most people in the property business as a fountain of knowledge. He covered the hot topic of Ireland’s property market, particularly in Galway and our major cities, and the way in which it could be improved.
The evening finished with a question and answer session with the panel, there was great questions from the floor and the panel were kept on their feet. Overall it was a wonderful success for O’Donnellan & Joyce and Grant Thornton, it is great to have this type of event take place in Galway.
