Property prices have fallen by 6% and tax receipts are down €600 million in the first quarter. Panic is beginning to take hold. Expectations of soft landings are fading as developers slash selling prices and buyers hold off till things settle. Architects-the canaries of the building industry-are being handed their P45s as developers close up shop, bank their land and migrate to London to build the Olympics. The banks meanwhile are frightened to lend to each other as their security and assets are revalued in an atmosphere of suspicion and uncertainty. All these factors are leading to a credit squeeze and recession. Whether this recession will be short, a simple overdue correction of an overheated property market, or whether it deepens into a serious economic depression, depends on how the government reacts.
Dave Wetzel
Congestion charges
A transcript of the talk given by Dave Wetzel, Vice-Chair of Transport for London UK. This talk was part of the Feasta conference “Land: The Claim of the Community”, held in October 2003.
Briefing on the conference
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Land: The Claim of the Community: October 2003 conference
An international conference to explore initiatives in affordable housing, infrastructure provision and local government finance.
9th and 10th October 2003
This event was extremely timely: all levels of Irish government and society are beginning to address the core issues of land ownership, review initiatives abroad and suggest workable mechanisms to deliver social cohesion and sustainable development in Ireland.
Themes
Speakers
About the Organisers
Transcripts of lectures
Themes
The problem in Ireland
Symptoms and causes. The unsustainable costs of home ownership. Homelessness and the pressures on tenants in the private rented sector. Difficulties of acquiring land for social housing. The rural …
