Portuguese sail through planning:Parabéns, or congratulations, to the Portuguese Embassy which has just secured planning permission for a small housing scheme in its back yard.

Planners at DLRCC have given the embassy the all clear for eight two-storey mews houses on the grounds of Knocksinna House in Foxrock along with permission for new access to the grounds from Willow Park.

Now before well-heeled househunters start rushing for supplies of Ferrero Rocher, be warned that the embassy doesn't actually intend to build the houses. It was merely looking to know the value of the site, a spokesman for the ambassador told Around The Block. He remained tight lipped, however, when questioned on whether the embassy was selling up. Permission has been granted on the condition that the embassy enters into a contract with the council regarding its social and affordable housing requirement. Negotiations are ongoing and the embassy has proposed either making a financial contribution or providing social housing at one of the units.

Tesco plan doesn't sell:Tesco's first foray into Irish residential property development has been scuppered by city hall. The supermarket giant was looking to build a five-storey building at its village site in Sandymount, Dublin 4, with a new store and 23 apartments and duplexes above, much to the disgust of locals. The scheme, however, cut no ice with planners who said its size would detract from the village, which is a conservation area. The "poor quality" of the residential element was noted by planners, not to mention the traffic congestion that it could cause. Meanwhile in the UK, Tesco has just finalised plans for a new superstore in south London which will include 13 flats for staff to combat the dearth of affordable housing in London.

Tesco is reluctant to say whether they will go again on the Sandymount site, but this is likely given the site's prime location. Staff, however, are unlikely to be given first dibbs on apartments.

 Site values start to slip:  The days of massaging your vendor are at an end, as agents begin to get realistic about the falling values of housing sites, particularly in the Dublin area. The market for sites in 2006 was easily the busiest ever and, with the builders having so much cash, all the good ones were snapped up quickly, leaving some large out-of-town tracts of land still on the market, along with pockets of south Dublin back gardens priced at mad money. A new realism seems to be emerging with agents now telling landowners to drop their expectations by at least 15 per cent if they are serious about selling. Even with that reduction, landowners in many cases can walk away with serious money by any standards. The same agents are warning that, with supply of new homes expected to fall significantly this year, the value of site prices could weaken further, particularly in outlying areas. There is also the fear that a change in government with a mix of the Greens, Sinn Fein and Labour (a builder's nightmare!) could undermine values even further, with a raft of new taxes on the agenda. Even Fianna Fail has promised that, if returned to power, owners of zoned land face the prospect of "use it or lose it" - in other words get on with development and stop hoarding land.

Decisive on Dartmouth:With the Dartmouth Square saga dragging on and the pathways of the square now cluttered up with tiles being sold by Mr O'Gara, perhaps it is time for residents to take some decisive action. When Belgrave Square in Monkstown was similarly acquired by a private individual a few years ago, its residents were left with no option but to find the money to buy him off rather than see the two-acre square subjected to a variety of uses which were permitted under the zoning. In this case, the residents did the sensible thing and had a whiparound to pay off the new owner who was only too happy to take a good profit. Since then they have enjoyed full use of the square, which has been used for jazz sessions and an open air cinema. They are now costing plans to put railings around the square - a job that could cost the guts of €500,000 - but would certainly look good, not to mention enhance the value of the houses on the square. Back in Dublin 6, residents seem to be relying entirely on Dublin Corporation to come up with the dough simply because it mishandled the acquisition of the lease over many years. This week's developments suggest that the issue could drag on for years with no satisfactory outcome for the residents.