Austin Egan moved his
Appleton Property location recently to the former Peacocke premises, and he says it is the business's final move,
writes Brian Byrne. All three locations, over 13 years, have been within 100 metres of each other, which says something about the appeal of that particular stretch of Kilcullen's main street. Also about Austin's belief in the town as a place to do business.
The former shoemaker's shop is now completely changed, but updated in a manner respectful of Kilcullen's heritage streetscape. Inside, there's a comfortable public area, a conference room, and Austin's office looking out onto a low-key garden. The renovation has light flowing right through the building, for the benefit of those working there — Austin himself, his daughter and student Siún, and Laura White who has been office manager for the last eight years. "We've put a lot into the building, and we're very happy here. It's nice to have a pleasant work area. You can work better, and longer — it's good for productivity."
It's no secret that home-buying and renting is in a difficult place. In Austin's 13 years on Main Street, that has intensified with an increasing gap between prices and income, along with Ireland's strong population growth. Irish people have always had an appetite for home ownership, and that hasn't gone away, he says. But it's more difficult. "It has become much more challenging. Construction costs have gone up exponentially, which in turn has driven up the price of new houses. And secondhand ones have followed. There's a supply and demand issue now that wasn't there in 2013."
The rental side, too, has been going through substantial, and disruptive changes. There are fewer 'corporate' lettings, for professionals with critical skills working for global companies on a term contract. "Since Covid, many of those became tenants on their own. They settled here, wanted to stay, and eventually became buyers. That's driving a lot of demand." The squeeze on ordinary renters is painfully evident to many simply seeking a place to live, and also to those who want to get out of that space and into a home of their own.
Is Ireland heading towards a more continental model of permanent renting? “Previously, Germany and other European countries were the examples of that, where they had a high percentage of permanent rental property. But I think that if our level of rentals haven’t already surpassed those countries, they will.” He notes that while other countries have traditionally different philosophies on renting, they also have different economies. "They have different legal structures, too. We have an evolving legal structure that’s causing its own disruption, with many unintended consequences.”
A ‘big withdrawal’ of individual landlords from the rental market last year is one of those. In many cases, tenants involved have bought the houses themselves. “They’re still homes, but they’re not providing a rental solution.” Landlords are leaving in part due to increasing complexity from changes in legislation, bringing a lot more rules to navigate. "Then you have heavy taxation. The sector is getting less attractive, and that’s not good, because we need to have a balanced rental market for young people.”
A similar balance is needed at the older homeowner end, with many living in family homes too large for them once their children have left. “The most common query that we can't immediately satisfy is people who want to move from a larger property into a smaller one that's appropriate for their needs. Those properties aren't available. If there was a substantial stock of two-bedroom houses, then the cycle would work. Families, as they grow, would move into those, and there'd be a proper cycle, a property ladder on which you can go up and down.”
Austin has always been interested in the property sectors in other countries, and he says similar pressures are being experienced elsewhere. “All developed European countries have the same challenges. They're all trying to meet them differently, but I don't know if any are doing it any better than us at the moment.”
Government initiatives to help bridge the affordability gap for first-time buyers, such as Help-to-Buy and the shared equity First Home scheme, are 'quite effective' in the new homes sector, Austin says. "But they're not available in the second-hand market." Tweaks could be made in mortgage rules and green incentive discounts: A- or B-rated homes already get a mortgage discount, for instance. "Various schemes have helped to increase people's capacity to borrow, and the government has the power to improve those programmes." While the Appleton crystal ball suggests that property prices won't be coming down in any foreseeable future, the rate of increase is likely to slow. "The rate is projected to decline, but that's different from house prices coming down — they're still going to grow."
The village character which Kilcullen has retained is an asset. “It is very much regarded as a safe town and a nice place to live. I meet a lot of people who come here to consider buying houses, and they may not buy a particular house from me at the time. But they may well be sold on Kilcullen, and I could sell them a house next month.” He's not expecting the town to grow as big as neighbouring Naas and Newbridge, because they have the main rail links where concentrating development makes sense. "I don't see the town exceeding 5,000 in population, and that extra thousand isn't going to change the character of Kilcullen. But I have three children, and I want them to be able to live here. We need housing for the next generation, how that is managed is the key thing."
In the 16 years Austin has been in business for himself, he has seen estate agency technology move fast and far. "When I was studying in Bolton Street, we had a measuring tape and a camera with film that we handed in for developing. Then the internet and Daft and MyHome came along, and that changed things immensely. Now we're moving into the next space, an upsurge in technology and AI tools." He notes this is also bringing a change in customer habits. "People are now not necessarily using Daft as their main tool — they may eventually arrive at it through search engines, be it with Google or with AI."
But the link back to the individual estate agent is still critically important. "We learned during Covid that putting this business totally virtual just does not work. At the end of the day, people want to physically turn up. For us, we're in a village mindset, with a very person-based service, and we have to integrate the technology into that without losing the personal side."
Well, there's nowhere more personal than Main Street Kilcullen.
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