Glossary

Property & Housing

PPR (Property Price Register)

The official public register of every residential property sold in Ireland since January 2010, published by the PSRA. Contains address, sale date, price, and new-build flag. No buyer/seller names and no dwelling type.

PSRA (Property Services Regulatory Authority)

The statutory body that licenses estate agents, auctioneers and property managers in Ireland. Publishes and maintains the PPR.

RTB (Residential Tenancies Board)

The statutory body that registers tenancies, adjudicates disputes and publishes Ireland's official Rent Index — the authoritative source for rent data by county and property type.

Eircode

Ireland's unique 7-character postcode assigned to every building (e.g. D02 XY00, A94 W0C4). Unlike UK postcodes, each Eircode identifies a single address. Introduced in 2015 and populated on PPR records mainly from 2016 onwards.

FTB (First-Time Buyer)

A buyer purchasing their first residential property. FTBs qualify for preferential mortgage rules (higher LTI, lower deposit) under Central Bank rules and for the Help to Buy scheme on new-builds.

HTB (Help to Buy)

Revenue scheme refunding up to 10% of the purchase price (capped at €30,000) of a new-build to first-time buyers, funded from their last four years of income tax paid.

LTI (Loan-to-Income)

Ratio of mortgage borrowing to gross annual income. Central Bank limits apply: 4× income for first-time buyers, 3.5× for second and subsequent buyers.

LTV (Loan-to-Value)

Ratio of mortgage borrowing to property price. Central Bank limits apply: typically a minimum deposit of 10% for first-time buyers (90% LTV) and 20% for others.

Stamp Duty

A transaction tax on property purchases. 1% on residential property up to €1m, 2% above €1m. 7.5% on non-residential.

LPT (Local Property Tax)

Annual tax on residential property in Ireland, calculated as a percentage of self-assessed market value in bands. Administered by Revenue.

VAT on new builds

New residential properties in Ireland are sold inclusive of 13.5% VAT. PPR figures on Statire follow PSRA guidelines and show new-build prices inclusive of VAT.

New build vs Second-hand

PPR classifies each sale as a new dwelling (never previously sold) or a second-hand property. Used throughout Statire to filter price trends and affordability.

Resale / Property Mover

A property that has sold more than once since 2010. Statire matches resales by normalised address and tracks the price change between sales on Property Movers.

Dwelling completions

New dwellings (houses and apartments) connected to the ESB network and deemed ready for occupation in a given quarter. The CSO's official measure of new housing supply.

Freehold / Leasehold

Freehold = outright ownership of land and building indefinitely. Leasehold = ownership for a fixed term (often 99 or 999 years) with obligations to the freeholder. Most Irish houses are freehold; apartments are typically leasehold.

Asking price vs Sold price

Asking price is the headline figure at which a property is advertised (on Daft, MyHome, etc.). Sold price is what the property actually transacted at and appears on the PPR. These differ, sometimes significantly.

Energy & Efficiency

BER (Building Energy Rating)

A compulsory rating of a dwelling's energy efficiency, on a scale from A1 (most efficient, ≤25 kWh/m²/yr) down to G (worst, ≥450 kWh/m²/yr). A BER is legally required when a property is sold or let in Ireland.

SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland)

The state agency overseeing energy efficiency policy, BER assessments, grants and public data on energy use.

kWh/m²/yr

The numeric BER unit: kilowatt-hours of energy used per square metre of floor area per year. Lower is better. Underpins the A1–G letter bands.

DEAP

Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure — the methodology BER assessors use to calculate a home's energy rating from its fabric, heating system and ventilation.

Economics, Work & Inflation

CSO (Central Statistics Office)

Ireland's national statistics agency. Source of earnings, inflation (CPI), employment, census, crime and most macroeconomic data used on Statire.

CPI (Consumer Price Index)

The official measure of price inflation in Ireland, published monthly by the CSO. Tracks a basket of goods and services weighted to average household spending. See CPI Tracker.

HICP

Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices — the Eurostat-standardised version of CPI, used for European comparisons and ECB inflation targets.

Live Register

The CSO's monthly count of claimants of Jobseeker's Benefit/Allowance in Ireland. A headline indicator of unemployment (though not a direct unemployment rate).

Median vs Mean earnings

Median is the middle value — half of workers earn more, half earn less. Mean is the simple average. Median is less distorted by high earners and is the preferred affordability benchmark on Statire.

PAYE / USC / PRSI

Three deductions on Irish payroll. PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is income tax. USC (Universal Social Charge) is a separate income-based charge. PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance) funds state pensions and benefits.

Affordability ratio

The ratio of median new-home price to median annual full-time earnings in the same year. A ratio of 10× means a median house costs ten years of gross median salary. Rising ratios = housing less affordable. See Property vs Salary.

QES (Quarterly Earnings Series)

The CSO's quarterly report on average earnings by economic sector in Ireland. Source of Quarterly Earnings.

Demographics & Geography

Census 2022

Ireland's most recent population census, held April 2022 and published in stages through 2023–2024. Covers population, age, household composition, housing, ethnicity and more. Base data for Statire's Demographics page.

Electoral Division (ED)

A small statistical area used by the CSO to publish local data. Ireland has ~3,400 EDs. Used in deprivation indices and granular demographic reporting.

Small Area

A finer statistical unit than an ED — the smallest geography the CSO publishes for most census variables. Ireland has ~18,000 Small Areas, each typically containing 80–120 dwellings.

Pobal HP Deprivation Index

A composite index produced by Pobal measuring relative affluence or deprivation of each Electoral Division, based on census indicators like education, unemployment and lone parents. Updated after each census.

Local Authority

A county council or city council — the tier of government responsible for housing, planning, roads and waste in a given area. Ireland has 31 local authorities.

Finance, Pensions & Investment

ECB (European Central Bank)

The central bank of the euro area. Sets the ECB interest rate, which directly feeds into variable and tracker mortgage rates in Ireland.

ECB rate / refinancing rate

The interest rate at which the ECB lends to commercial banks. The benchmark reference for tracker mortgages and a major input to all Irish mortgage pricing.

Tracker mortgage

A mortgage whose rate is contractually fixed at a set margin above the ECB rate (e.g. ECB + 1%). Largely no longer offered on new loans but held by many pre-2008 borrowers.

Fixed vs Variable rate

Fixed rate locks your mortgage interest rate for an agreed period (typically 1–10 years). Variable rate moves at the lender's discretion with ECB and funding costs.

DB vs DC pensions

Defined Benefit pensions promise a specific income in retirement (often tied to salary and service). Defined Contribution pensions pay out whatever the invested pot accumulates to. Most new Irish pensions are DC.

Cars & Transport

EV (Electric Vehicle)

A battery-only electric car with no combustion engine. Zero tailpipe emissions. Tracked on EV Trends.

PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid EV)

A car with both a battery and a combustion engine that can be charged from mains electricity. Classified separately from pure EVs in registration data.

NCT (National Car Test)

Mandatory roadworthiness test for private cars in Ireland, first at 4 years then biennially.

VRT (Vehicle Registration Tax)

Tax charged on first registration of a vehicle in Ireland. Calculated from emissions and open-market value.

Justice & Crime

An Garda Síochána

Ireland's national police service. Source of crime incident data via the CSO.

Garda Station / Division

Gardaí are organised into Divisions (26 nationally), each containing multiple Stations. Statire reports crime at the station level on Crime by Garda Station.

Recorded crime

Incidents reported to An Garda Síochána and classified by offence category. The CSO publishes recorded crime quarterly after a statistical review.

Quick Abbreviations

Every acronym you’ll see on Statire, at a glance.