NICK McNamara returned home to Ireland five years ago after emigrating to Australia during the mid 2000s economic crash, but soon found himself priced out of Dublin’s house market and struggling to save and pay his rent.
The Coronavirus pandemic presented a silver lining, allowing McNamara, who is highly skilled in information technology sales, retreat to his parents home in Crecora, Co Limerick, and save to build a house while still working for his Dublin-based employer.
“I couldn’t do this in Dublin, the rent in Dublin is ridiculous. I was in two-bed apartment sharing with a work colleague and we were paying €2,600 a month, and that’s even in Leopardstown, ten kilometres outside the city centre” McNamara said.
“I prefer the lifestyle in the countryside, I prefer the open-air for mental health and all that, it’s a better lifestyle choice and the cost of living suits me better.”
“There’s no issue with working for my company from home, I’m on a European team, so a lot of my colleagues would be from the Nordic countries and went back home during COVID,” he added.
A report published today (Wednesday) by Limerick Chamber ‘Repopulating Limerick City Centre Critical for Revitalisation’, highlights the need for affordable residential units in the centre in order to attract professionals like McNamara.
The Future Development of Limerick City report by Indecon Economic Consultants stated that, “Limerick city is one of the more affordable cities in Ireland, with the population of Limerick expected to grow by 10% by 2040”.
However, it also notes: “Over the course of the last two decades, Limerick city centre has seen an increase in the number of vacant buildings.”
Dr Catriona Cahill, Chief Economist with Limerick Chamber said “over 1,100 new homes will be needed each year over the next 19 years to meet our lowest population growth projections” in order to repopulate the city centre.
She said “a higher delivery rate will be required to address the historical undersupply of affordable homes that has resulted in a significant proportion of our 25-29 years olds still having to live at home with their parents”.
“Public realms and access to green spaces” are also key to enticing more people to see the city centre as an attractive place to live in, Dr Cahill said.
This could be done through the delivery of “a combination of refurbishment of vacant existing stock, as well as new developments over the medium to long term”.
Dr Cahill warned that “failure to provide for this forecasted housing need will exacerbate existing generational and social divides” and have a knock-on impact on homelessness.
Another concern noted in the report is that cities are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and that “11% of housing in Limerick and suburbs was built post-2000 with older buildings tending to have much lower levels of energy efficiency”.
Hugh Hennessy, Divisional Director with Indecon said its analysis of housing stock by energy rate shows that “there were only 3% of housing in Limerick city with A rating”.
“The fact that around 45% of housing had a D, E, F, or G rating highlights the need for a major retrofitting programme as part of the strategy for sustainable growth in Limerick city”.
Another key challenge identified in the report is a ‘brain drain’ from regional cities to the capital and destinations abroad.
While the share of graduates staying and working in the Limerick region increased between 2015 and 2018, “immediate focus on retaining these valuable knowledge workers is recommended”.
Limerick Chamber said more government support and capital investment in the city’s higher educational institutions was “essential to complete the transition (of Limerick) to a modern university city with students on campus in the heart of the city centre”.
The report found that Limerick has the second highest disposable income per person after Dublin., and that, as a result of Covid, the share of youth unemployment has increased from 12% to 15%.
“Cities like Rotterdam have strong youth employment initiatives and this is something the report recommends could be implemented in Limerick city.”
Dee Ryan, chief executive officer, Limerick Chamber said “a focus is urgently required on how cities can facilitate increased urban living and overcome major challenges such as digitalisation, climate change, remote working, and traditional retail decline”.
“After the year just gone, we must support our local retailers more than ever before. We’re particularly keen to see measures introduced to address the rise in youth unemployment as a result of the pandemic to ensure that these young people aren’t locked out of opportunities.”
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