Possible move from Uk to D15

Dublinjules

Hi all...

Myself and my husband are hoping to return to Dublin in the next 3 months. Im orginally from Dublin and looking to buy around Clonee, Blanch, Tyrellstown, Clonsilla way.. I believe the traffic is awful.? My husband will be travelling into the city centre to work.. are the schools ok? are there nice estates?

Thanks

Jules!

Zaph

Hi Jules, welcome to the forum.

In a word, yes, the traffic is awful. If there's any way your husband can get the train into work I'd recommend that, although they're always packed too, but at least it's quicker than driving.

As with anywhere, there are good and bad estates. A lot depends on your budget obviously, but if you have a look at the likes of myhome.ie and daft.ie for places that interest you and are within your budget feel free to ask people here about them. We have a fairly wide spread of posters across D15, so there's bound to be someone who'll know the areas you're enquiring about.

As for schools, can't help you there I'm afraid, not an issue for me, but again feel free to post a thread about schools in areas that are of interest to you.

Dublinjules

HI there and thanks for the reply.. have been looking at Hunters Run, in Clonee.. think there are a few estates with simlar names. We have a budget of about 350,000 and are looking for a three bed.. Also looked at warrenstown in Blanch.. Not sure what its like?

Saruman

I saw a 3 bed "detached" house in Tyrellstown within your budget.

Traffic can be terrible yes, so the train would be best.
Has your husband already got a job in the city centre? If not.. there is plenty in the Blanch area.

Zaph

I'm not familiar with either I'm afraid, I'm still relatively new to the area myself, but there's bound to be someone around who'll be able to give you the run down on each.

some comments.........

why buy a house?
Prices are falling in the area, a 3 bed semi in Clonee will cost in the region of 330k, the same house 18months ago would have cost 375k.
People are not receiving their asking price
I've just sold my house, so would have a fair idea of whats happening.
Looks like prices will continue to fall.

There are major issues regarding schooling in the area.
-Lack of places
-Catholic schools giving priority to Catholic kids
-Educate together schools (non Catholic),having in the region of 85% non Irish kids, many of which have poor or no English language abilities.
-lack of resources for language support in schools
-"white flight" from the area.i.e Irish people leaving the area and being replaced by immigrants, with the serious danger of ghettos being formed.

the local school principals got together and produced a detailed report, have a read of it, all 190 pages

http://bap.ie/dloads/intercultural_education_report.pdf

The commute into town is poor, however at peak times there is a express bus service, which is ok, but even still you would have to allow 45mins form the Clonee area. I prefered to cycle.

Nevyn

Nice find on that school report dursey.

LostinBlanch

Dublinjules wrote: »

We have a budget of about 350,000 and are looking for a three bed.. Also looked at warrenstown in Blanch.. Not sure what its like?

That kind of budget should get you what you want. Warrenstown is fine, nice an quiet, and I've been here for the last four years.

Stark

Warrenstown is nice enough. Convenient to the 38/38A bus routes, which though not great (like much of the bus service in Dublin), are a good better than the 39. 10 mins walk to the shopping centre as well.

Dublinjules

Hey There

Thanks again for the replies.. And thanks so much for finding that report.. have had a quick look at it.. Hmmmm... Doesnt sound good at all.

Alos interesting about the hous prices dropping.. That seems alot to come down in such a short space of time.. It really doent seem like the right time to buy.. The market over here is slowing down too but not as much as Ireland. We will be living with my parents for about 6 months so hopefully that will give us some time to see what way the market goes.

I have also been looking at some places in Lucan.. can anyone give me an idea what Lucan would be like? Thanks again for your advice.

J

Zaph

Dublinjules wrote: »

I have also been looking at some places in Lucan.. can anyone give me an idea what Lucan would be like? Thanks again for your advice.

The best place to ask about Lucan would be the Dublin County West forum Jules. It's a bit newer, and therefore a little quieter, than here, but there should be a few people over there able to help you.

dewsbury

Don't buy - rent. You will save €35,000 over the next 12 months??

Take your time and watch the property prices fall for the second year in a row. (There is a general concensus about this fall).

Also traffic is not to be under-estimated.
I use a motorbike.

jam_mac_jam

white flight indeed. Dublin 15 is a large area and I would be a bit slow to call it a ghetto! The educate together schools do not have 85 per cent non Irish kids, I think you may be thinking of Balbriggan there.


I would rent for the moment, house prices are dropping all over the place, I would rent near the train line for the moment and this may also give you access to better schools or less crowded schools. There is a problem in the area with school places but I personally like the area. I think it has quite a lot to offer. there are nice estates and there are dreadful estates just take your time looking and rent or live with your parents for a while to decide on where you want to be.

Gaspode

Deleted User wrote: »

some comments.........

-Educate together schools (non Catholic),having in the region of 85% non Irish kids, many of which have poor or no English language abilities.
-.

Putting on my pedantic Pat hat here, I would correct that to 'Some' educate together schools, certainly not all of them. And they are non-religous rather than non-catholic. There are other religions besides Catholicism, though you'd harly believe it living in this country!!
Otherwise, I agree with most of your comments, and the report makes for some very interesting reading.

PauloMN

Dublinjules wrote: »

Hey There

Thanks again for the replies.. And thanks so much for finding that report.. have had a quick look at it.. Hmmmm... Doesnt sound good at all.

Alos interesting about the hous prices dropping.. That seems alot to come down in such a short space of time.. It really doent seem like the right time to buy.. The market over here is slowing down too but not as much as Ireland. We will be living with my parents for about 6 months so hopefully that will give us some time to see what way the market goes.

I have also been looking at some places in Lucan.. can anyone give me an idea what Lucan would be like? Thanks again for your advice.

J

I would hold off on buying for a while if you can. Prices around where I am dropped at least 10% - maybe more - in the past year alone. I expect they will drop some more before they eventually level off.

As regards Lucan, same sort of problems with traffic, the N4 is awful in the mornings, possibly worse than the N3. Probably not quite as bad in terms of lack of school places from what I've heard (the fact that some D15 kids are/were being bussed to schools in Lucan backs up that belief).

I think with a little research and a bit of flexibility though it is not hard to get a place in a good school close to where you live in D15. You don't have to send you kids to the school nearest to you.

My one piece of advice would be to buy in an established estate if you can rather than a new build. You'll find that older estates tend to be more settled and cared for than new estates with a lot of rented properties. If/when I move, I don't think I'd ever move to a brand new estate again.

Arcadian

PauloMN wrote: »

.
I don't think I'd ever move to a brand new estate again.

Amen to that:D We started off in Ongar but Hartstown is a million times quieter.

slavedave

OP, I moved to Ireland in 2000 and settled in the Clonee area with my family. I have lived on three of the "new" estates in the Littlepace/ Castaheany area and my experiences to date have been very good. New estates are always going to be finding their feet and building an identity and this is ongoing. It is a little like legoland and the new estates empty in the daytime as people join the melee into town. Transport networks are not brilliant. There are express buses into and out of town at peak hours that miss out the shopping entre. The N3 has really started to jam up in rush hour (when I first started my commute into James Gate In D8 it would take me 20 mins guaranteed by car each day ,if I got in by 7am. Now I wouldn't even be past the M50 junction). Cycling was the most realistic option for me and it was great (30 mins in every single day and I got fit in the process). There are not many amenities for young children in the area (ours are 3,5,9 &11) so you often have to make your own fun.
Clonsilla has a great link into Connolly Station but it is reputed to be horrendously oversubscribed each day as the masses head into town. The estates near to the station are more mature than many the western reaches of D15 and have a nice "feel" about them.
Schooling is a nightmare and would need some serious consideration in your decision making process. Places are extremely limited for junior schools in the area. The waiting list for one of my daughters intake was in excess of 140 kids! She was held back for a year as a result. New schools are being planned and built (slowly) but there isn't even a secondary school in the Ongar / Castaheany area yet - it is due to be opened as prefabs in 2008 (sept). The school that my kids go to is really good, with dedicated and professional staff that nurture their development. Watch out for the cachement boundaries for schools - they are not always obvious and the Patrons/Governors are getting a lot tighter on admissions.
White Flight - what a phrase. Having grown up in London I relish the diversity that has spread to D15. It was all a bit bland prior to the injection of new cultures etc.
I don't think that you can get away from the amount of people that rent on the new estates. It is the only realistic way to afford to live in Dublin. What it does mean is that estates often have a large proportion of them that are slightly more transitory and less committed to investing into the area. All this does affect the general vibe.
One final thing - Hunters Run may be having a large car park built in front of it if plans proceed forward. Not sure of the status of this as residents were obviously up in arms. Be worth asking the questions though.

Saruman

dewsbury wrote: »

Don't buy - rent. You will save €35,000 over the next 12 months??

35k? 12 months?? Don't be ridiculous.
Thats almost a €3000 a month mortgage... how would they "save" that much money by renting instead of paying a mortgage?
I doubt Dublinjules plans on buying a 1.2 million euro house

Well, I just sold my house in Clonee for 45k less than I would have gotten a year or so go, with rents in the area only about 1250pm, and prices still dropping, it's easy to come up with a 35k figure.

Saruman

Its not that easy.. 1250 a month is only 15k a year in rent. even if someone was paying a mortgage of twice that, it still would not make up 35k in a 12 month period. And dewsbury said thats how much you could "save" so that means after paying your rent for the year, you would be 35k better off than had you been paying a mortgage. That is not possible, not in this situation anyway.

but the saving is on paying less on buying a house.

45k of a drop in the last year, lots of houses for sale in the area, prices still dropping.

with poor transport links, and the problems in the schools, can see the prices falling more in this area than others.

The report on schooling, I mentioned above, will have the opposite effect than what is intended, with people less interested in buying in the area.

D15 and it's residents, both Irish and foreign have been let down by the government, with lack of resources in schools and poor planning.

Mailman

There is plenty of rental property in D15. Rent to begin. Get a feel for the area and then decide if you want to buy there.