Moving to Courtown/ riverchaple.

Marhay70

hairyslug wrote: »

Just be weary about buying, not to do with the area, we are trying to buy at the moment but there are so few estates that have not yet been taken in charge by the council

Middletown is in charge of Wexford Co.Co. What's the problem with an estate being in charge of the Council? Most estates will be eventually unless they choose not to be.

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

Middletown is in charge of Wexford Co.Co. What's the problem with an estate being in charge of the Council? Most estates will be eventually unless they choose not to be.

What does that mean exactly? And what is "Wexford Co.Co."?

sorry but am a foreigner

Marhay70

armabelle wrote: »

Actually more than one letting agent. Are there some we should avoid?

There are but I couldn't name them here, sticking to the larger estate agents is probably the best policy.

Marhay70

armabelle wrote: »

What does that mean exactly? And what is "Wexford Co.Co."?

sorry but am a foreigner

Wexford County Council is the local authority responsible for roads, sewage, water supply and other infrastructure within the county of Wexford.

While a new housing estate is being built, the builder/developer is responsible for installing and maintaining all the above mentioned infrastructure and only when the estate is finished to an agreed standard, does responsibility pass to the local authority, this process is known as "taking in charge".
Some estates, particularly in wealthy areas, choose not to follow this course and opt to maintain their own areas, this practice is not widespread.
Another scenario is that the builder/developer runs into financial difficulties and cannot afford to finish off the estate, in which case the local authority will not take the estate in charge unless it can redeem a cash bond which is supposed to be lodged with their offices. This happened in a lot of cases during the recent property crash which resulted in thousands of house purchasers being in possession of properties in "ghost estates". In cases like that, homeowners would themselves be responsible for maintaining the infrastructure.
This is a list of housing estates "taken in charge" within Co. Wexford, it is not exhaustive and will be added to on an ongoing basis.

https://www.wexford.ie/wex/Departments/Planning/BuildingControl/TakinginCharge/Thefile,25451,en.pdf

hairyslug

Marhay70 wrote: »

Middletown is in charge of Wexford Co.Co. What's the problem with an estate being in charge of the Council? Most estates will be eventually unless they choose not to be.

Sorry, not all estates.
The bank has refused to issue us a mortgage on Glen Aoibhinn and dune haven due to the estate not being finished, you know these estates and the sort of condition they are in.

To the op, it's a nice town. We have done our research and we will keep on looking to buy there.

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

Wexford County Council is the local authority responsible for roads, sewage, water supply and other infrastructure within the county of Wexford.

While a new housing estate is being built, the builder/developer is responsible for installing and maintaining all the above mentioned infrastructure and only when the estate is finished to an agreed standard, does responsibility pass to the local authority, this process is known as "taking in charge".
Some estates, particularly in wealthy areas, choose not to follow this course and opt to maintain their own areas, this practice is not widespread.
Another scenario is that the builder/developer runs into financial difficulties and cannot afford to finish off the estate, in which case the local authority will not take the estate in charge unless it can redeem a cash bond which is supposed to be lodged with their offices. This happened in a lot of cases during the recent property crash which resulted in thousands of house purchasers being in possession of properties in "ghost estates". In cases like that, homeowners would themselves be responsible for maintaining the infrastructure.
This is a list of housing estates "taken in charge" within Co. Wexford, it is not exhaustive and will be added to on an ongoing basis.

https://www.wexford.ie/wex/Departments/Planning/BuildingControl/TakinginCharge/Thefile,25451,en.pdf

ok but is middletown valley "taken in charge" by Wexford Co.co? And is this a bad thing?

armabelle

hairyslug wrote: »

Sorry, not all estates.
The bank has refused to issue us a mortgage on Glen Aoibhinn and dune haven due to the estate not being finished, you know these estates and the sort of condition they are in.

To the op, it's a nice town. We have done our research and we will keep on looking to buy there.

I looked on google and those two are right next to Middletown valley. They all seems to be very similar. I can't see anything wrong with the areas and can't make sense of all the bad publicity Riverchapel has. Not only on this thread but also by a friend who lives in Gorey. She told us not to rent anywhere in Riverchapel for some reason but couldn't really give us a concrete answer as to why it was a bad area. She just said that in Gorey, that is how people see the area but if you look on the internet there dont appear to be any murders, wife beatings, or child abuse cases so what is the deal here? Why all the negative vibes?

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

There are but I couldn't name them here, sticking to the larger estate agents is probably the best policy.

ok thanks

what is the internet like where you live?

Marhay70

That's tough. As if buying a house wasn't difficult enough, but I suppose if you look at it objectively, you can see their point. It's not the case with all banks though as I know of one house in Dunehaven on which a mortgage was given but I don't know what the circumstances were. how much deposit was put down etc. Is there nothing anywhere else which attracts you?

Marhay70

armabelle wrote: »

ok but is middletown valley "taken in charge" by Wexford Co.co? And is this a bad thing?

Yes, if you look at the list you'll see Middletown is fully taken in charge and no it is not a bad thing. Basically what it means is that if any of the infrastructure in the estate goes wrong, i.e. burst water mains, sewage pipes, water pumps, street lighting etc., it is the local authority's responsibility to repair them. As you can imagine, most of these services are underground and would be very costly to maintain.


I don't know why Riverchapel has such a bad reputation, there are certainly some bad apples in the area but for the most part, any crime is imported. Riverchapel/Courtown/Ardamine contains a large number of holiday homes and holiday parks which are unoccupied for long stretches and these are attractive to thieves. AGS records show that the largest proportion of those arrested for criminality in the area, are from outside the area, ironically a significant number from Gorey. There is an active neighbourhood watch scheme in the area and residents are very proactive. In my experience Riverchapel is no worse than any similar sized town.

In Riverchapel Wood we have FTTC Broadband, my own speeds are about 50mbs down and 15mbs up but I can't guarantee it will be available where you rent, that's a question the letting agent should be able to answer.

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

I don't know why Riverchapel has such a bad reputation, there are certainly some bad apples in the area but for the most part, any crime is imported. Riverchapel/Courtown/Ardamine contains a large number of holiday homes and holiday parks which are unoccupied for long stretches and these are attractive to thieves. AGS records show that the largest proportion of those arrested for criminality in the area, are from outside the area, ironically a significant number from Gorey. There is an active neighbourhood watch scheme in the area and residents are very proactive. In my experience Riverchapel is no worse than any similar sized town.

In Riverchapel Wood we have FTTC Broadband, my own speeds are about 50mbs down and 15mbs up but I can't guarantee it will be available where you rent, that's a question the letting agent should be able to answer.

Yes ok but then perhaps the bad reputation is valid because - let's be honest here - does it really matter where crime comes from? The point is that there is crime and it is in the area. On a separate note, if what you are saying about the crime being the same in any other small town then it should not have the reputation it does so this is very unfair to the area and those who live there.

Do you mind me asking, who is your Internet provider?

Marhay70

armabelle wrote: »

Yes ok but then perhaps the bad reputation is valid because - let's be honest here - does it really matter where crime comes from? The point is that there is crime and it is in the area. On a separate note, if what you are saying about the crime being the same in any other small town then it should not have the reputation it does so this is very unfair to the area and those who live there.

Do you mind me asking, who is your Internet provider?

t

As a resident of the area I tend to disagree. There's a big difference between living amongst criminals and living in an area that's attractive to criminals. I would have no hesitation in walking through Riverchapel at any time of the day and would confidently expect to get to my destination and back without encountering crime or criminals. This, despite there being a lack of overt Garda presence.
The Courtown area more than doubles its population in the summer months and with that comes an increase in anti social behaviour, petty theft, fighting etc. not necessarily caused by the visitors but by ne'er do wells from other areas who are drawn by the presence of visitors. Even during the winter, the open spaces and absence of people draws the "boy racers" and their fanboys to the area, but this sort of thing is confined to areas remote from centres of population. I can only assume that it is this which leads to the reputation.
Certainly we have had robberies from shops and the post office and house breaking, also acts of vandalism but I defy you to name any village or town in the country which hasn't experienced that or any seaside resort in the country that doesn't suffer from anti social behaviour and boy racers.

As for broadband, I'm with Vodafone but because it's FTTC, any supplier should be able to give the same level of service. I live within 800m of the cabinet and consequently enjoy better speeds than someone who lives further away.

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

t

As a resident of the area I tend to disagree. There's a big difference between living amongst criminals and living in an area that's attractive to criminals. I would have no hesitation in walking through Riverchapel at any time of the day and would confidently expect to get to my destination and back without encountering crime or criminals. This, despite there being a lack of overt Garda presence.
The Courtown area more than doubles its population in the summer months and with that comes an increase in anti social behaviour, petty theft, fighting etc. not necessarily caused by the visitors but by ne'er do wells from other areas who are drawn by the presence of visitors. Even during the winter, the open spaces and absence of people draws the "boy racers" and their fanboys to the area, but this sort of thing is confined to areas remote from centres of population. I can only assume that it is this which leads to the reputation.
Certainly we have had robberies from shops and the post office and house breaking, also acts of vandalism but I defy you to name any village or town in the country which hasn't experienced that or any seaside resort in the country that doesn't suffer from anti social behaviour and boy racers.

As for broadband, I'm with Vodafone but because it's FTTC, any supplier should be able to give the same level of service. I live within 800m of the cabinet and consequently enjoy better speeds than someone who lives further away.

What is FTTC?

Thanks for your feedback again regarding the area. I am always dubious about a places reputation which is why I wanted to be better informed and seek additional info. It was a bit tragic then when we called the Garda in Gorey town today to ask about the area. The officer said that he would never live in Riverchapel which was kind of harsh. He could have said it differently but the message was very clear. So now we are rethinking moving there. Perhaps it is a silly thing but since we have two kids we feel more hesitant now.

Marhay70

armabelle wrote: »

What is FTTC?

Thanks for your feedback again regarding the area. I am always dubious about a places reputation which is why I wanted to be better informed and seek additional info. It was a bit tragic then when we called the Garda in Gorey town today to ask about the area. The officer said that he would never live in Riverchapel which was kind of harsh. He could have said it differently but the message was very clear. So now we are rethinking moving there. Perhaps it is a silly thing but since we have two kids we feel more hesitant now.

You must do what you think is best for your family, I am giving my honest opinion as a resident of the area. I have lived here for 13 years now and would not consider living anywhere else. I am past retirement age and as I said, I never feel threatened going about the area.
Good luck with whatever choice you make.

FTTC is Fibre To The Cabinet. The system operates by using fibre optic cable from the telephone exchange to strategically placed cabinets in the area, the individual subscribers are then fed by standard copper telephone wire to the home. Standard telephone cable suffers from loss of signal over distance which is why it is better to live close to the cabinet.

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

You must do what you think is best for your family, I am giving my honest opinion as a resident of the area. I have lived here for 13 years now and would not consider living anywhere else. I am past retirement age and as I said, I never feel threatened going about the area.
Good luck with whatever choice you make.

FTTC is Fibre To The Cabinet. The system operates by using fibre optic cable from the telephone exchange to strategically placed cabinets in the area, the individual subscribers are then fed by standard copper telephone wire to the home. Standard telephone cable suffers from loss of signal over distance which is why it is better to live close to the cabinet.

Ok thanks for your advice. Do you live in Riverchapel?

hairyslug

Marhay70 wrote: »

That's tough. As if buying a house wasn't difficult enough, but I suppose if you look at it objectively, you can see their point. It's not the case with all banks though as I know of one house in Dunehaven on which a mortgage was given but I don't know what the circumstances were. how much deposit was put down etc. Is there nothing anywhere else which attracts you?

We finally got the letter from the bank to say we can go ahead with s purchase.
We have taken many trips down, I've sat in a car till 4am to see if there were any problems, I made this mistake in the last house I bought.
We asked locals what is was like, all got great reviews. As with all estates there will be 1 family that causes enough hassle.
But going on reviews from people here, locals in riverchapel and a good friend we are moving down.

Marhay70

armabelle wrote: »

Ok thanks for your advice. Do you live in Riverchapel?

You're welcome. Yes, I live in Riverchapel, I thought I made that clear.

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

You're welcome. Yes, I live in Riverchapel, I thought I made that clear.

Oh ok, no I just wasn't sure if you lived in Courtown or Riverchapel. Thank you for all your help.

Marhay70

hairyslug wrote: »

We finally got the letter from the bank to say we can go ahead with s purchase.
We have taken many trips down, I've sat in a car till 4am to see if there were any problems, I made this mistake in the last house I bought.
We asked locals what is was like, all got great reviews. As with all estates there will be 1 family that causes enough hassle.
But going on reviews from people here, locals in riverchapel and a good friend we are moving down.

Glad to hear you got sorted. You certainly went to extremes to check out the area but it's a big decision and you want to get it right. Don't lose contact with this forum, I'm sure you'll get good advice here
Where have you decided to buy?

GinaI

Hi, I am thinking of moving to Riverchapel.I have some houses in mind. Some of them are in Beach side ( news, court, avenue) area and some are in Branogue park. Which area is better? Is there a bus t Gorey?Is it easy enough to get a place in Riverchapel school once you are in the area?Thank you.

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I'm looking at a holiday house in Ardamine next week & just curious about the area. While doing some research it seems this area is having issues with coastal erosion. The house is quite close to the beach. So I suppose it's a red flag. How bad is the problem there? Also is it a very quiet area? There doesn't seem to be a village as such. Any feedback?

Marhay70

Mya Inexpensive Spitball wrote: »

I'm looking at a holiday house in Ardamine next week & just curious about the area. While doing some research it seems this area is having issues with coastal erosion. The house is quite close to the beach. So I suppose it's a red flag. How bad is the problem there? Also is it a very quiet area? There doesn't seem to be a village as such. Any feedback?

Depends on where you are looking. Kenny's Burrough and Wafer's Burrough have suffered big problems in the past with coastal erosion but rock armour has been installed all along Ardamine beach which will help prevent this, during last winter's storms most of the problems were further south towards Donaghmore and Ballygarret. Have a surveyor check it out.
Ardamine is a lovely area but like all seaside areas, problems can arise in periods of hot weather, with the influx of visitors. I wouldn't let the odd incident put me off.

Marhay70

GinaI wrote: »

Hi, I am thinking of moving to Riverchapel.I have some houses in mind. Some of them are in Beach side ( news, court, avenue) area and some are in Branogue park. Which area is better? Is there a bus t Gorey?Is it easy enough to get a place in Riverchapel school once you are in the area?Thank you.

Quality of the houses is a little better in Branogue although quite a few of them seem to have problems with the final render. The further you go into the estate the better IMO, there have been problems with anti social behaviour in the area close to the main coast road. Beachside is a much later development and there are good and bad parts of it. At the front of the estate, houses tend to be a little cramped together but the further in you go it gets a little more spacious, if memory serves me there were different phases of building, possibly even different builders.
If the choice were mine, I would look elsewhere such as Middletown, Glen Aobhinn, Riverchapel Wood, but these areas would tend to be pricier so it depends on your budget.

GinaI

Marhay70 wrote: »

Quality of the houses is a little better in Branogue although quite a few of them seem to have problems with the final render. The further you go into the estate the better IMO, there have been problems with anti social behaviour in the area close to the main coast road. Beachside is a much later development and there are good and bad parts of it. At the front of the estate, houses tend to be a little cramped together but the further in you go it gets a little more spacious, if memory serves me there were different phases of building, possibly even different builders.
If the choice were mine, I would look elsewhere such as Middletown, Glen Aobhinn, Riverchapel Wood, but these areas would tend to be pricier so it depends on your budget.

Hi, thank your advice.Unfortunately I haven't come across any properties for my budget in the areas you've mentioned. I've visited Riverchapel and I tend to like Beach side more than Branogue park. Beach side is a bit unusual looking estate wih so many different types of houses in it! Can you please let e know if there is a bus to Gorey?thanks

Marhay70

GinaI wrote: »

Hi, thank your advice.Unfortunately I haven't come across any properties for my budget in the areas you've mentioned. I've visited Riverchapel and I tend to like Beach side more than Branogue park. Beach side is a bit unusual looking estate wih so many different types of houses in it! Can you please let e know if there is a bus to Gorey?thanks

The simple answer is no if your looking for a service that runs all day. There is a bus morning and afternoon to and from Gorey but it's not really what you would call a service. There is also a Bus Eireann bus, route 379 which runs on Mondays and Saturdays from Wexford via the coast road to Gorey. Most people would use taxis, local firms operate minibuses which can be pooled, fare is around €4 I think.
I would probably agree that Beachside is a nicer area than Branogue, I alwys felt though, that the build quality was poor.

hairyslug

Is branogue really that bad, we have just bought in dune haven, we thought we did our homework, I took trips up during the night and at the b/h weekend and saw no problems at all.

GinaI

Marhay70 wrote: »

The simple answer is no if your looking for a service that runs all day. There is a bus morning and afternoon to and from Gorey but it's not really what you would call a service. There is also a Bus Eireann bus, route 379 which runs on Mondays and Saturdays from Wexford via the coast road to Gorey. Most people would use taxis, local firms operate minibuses which can be pooled, fare is around €4 I think.
I would probably agree that Beachside is a nicer area than Branogue, I alwys felt though, that the build quality was poor.

Thank you.I drive but I was thinking my child could possibly take a bus to Gorey to go to school, if he can't get a place at Riverchapel school

Marhay70

GinaI wrote: »

Thank you.I drive but I was thinking my child could possibly take a bus to Gorey to go to school, if he can't get a place at Riverchapel school

No reason why he shouldn't get a place in Riverchapel once he is living in the catchment area but I would contact the school ASAP. There are school buses to Gorey but they would mainly cater for second level students, contact Bus Eireann in Waterford.

Marhay70

hairyslug wrote: »

Is branogue really that bad, we have just bought in dune haven, we thought we did our homework, I took trips up during the night and at the b/h weekend and saw no problems at all.

Perhaps they've moved on but there certainly were a couple of undesirables on the front road, I think I may have mentioned this when you first enquired.
The problem seems to be absentee landlords who don't give a tuppeny s*it what their tenants get up to, the biggest offenders in my experience are those who have signed up to a RAS tenancy agreement with Wexford Co Co. Despite their profession of a "zero tolerance" approach to anti social behaviour, Wexford Co Co are very slow to react to complaints and of course the landlord is guaranteed his rent and if the tenants trash the premises, you and I, the taxpayer, will make good the damage. Often the only option is for residents to take the landlord to court, providing he can be found. Wexford Co Co, of course, are answerable to nobody.

13roses

I am in the process of buying in riverchapel, and am hearing mixed things like robberies, gangsters taking over local pubs etc. I am not buying in an estate it's on the main road. It's important I get this move right so any advice greatly appreciated