New home sale in Belmont, Stepaside, Dublin 18

Jolisa94

Hi Lillian,

just had a quick look at the planning permission application, not clear to me what the position on social housing is, as far as i know all the houses in the current phases were up for private sale, but maybe there are is some social housing planned for the next phase.

Has anyone asked the EA about this?

No contract yet, but we were up looking at the site the weekend before last and it does not look like the house will be ready any time soon.

Wallander

We were told at the initial open viewing that there was no social housing planned as the council are accepting a donation instead...

What kind of details are noted in the application on this Lillian? I'm purely speculating but I wonder if some of the houses already planned are deemed 'affordable' so that ticks a 'social and affordable' box.

Baileys4

All moved in and I think there's only 4/5 of us at the moment but I know there are more planned this weekend. The developer/closing foreman and everyone onsite have been fantastic and I have to admit the hamper was a lovely touch!

I'd second the comment on the AIB charge, not an issue just paperwork and we have this in writing. It did delay us getting the deeds& keys but worth the wait. For those of you awaiting contracts, the vendors solicitor are trying to close phase one first so I'd imagine that's the delay in getting your contracts.

I know for phase one, there was no affordable housing as a donation was made instead-it's not a requirement for new estates anymore but anything on additional phases is surely speculation at this point. I do know however that the 300 or so planned apartments are not going ahead & I'd imagine the developer will want to replace these eventually with houses especially considering the demand so far!

Jolisa94

That's what I thought too, but I don't remember exactly what the EA said.

BTW, there already is some social housing in Belarmine, its limited to the appartment blocks near the roundabout. No social housing in Aikens Village as far as I know.

Ronan|Raven

Baileys4 wrote: »

All moved in and I think there's only 4/5 of us at the moment but I know there are more planned this weekend.

I was driving past this morning going to work and noticed a lot more cars parked outside. Hope it all goes well for you and welcome to a great area to live ( in my opinion.. bar the bloody walk up the hill to the Blue Light...)

Lillian123

Yes I rang the planning department and they said they can't confirm whether there is social housing or a donation. She said we would have to ask our solicitor to request this information from the housing department. On the latest planning application it says:

"The applicant has complied with Condition 25 in this regard and a Part V agreement is being entered into. The proposed development does not include any increase or decrease in the number of permitted units, apart from minor increases in floor area to 40. The part V agreement can be amended to reflect same, as required"

Its not a big issue for us anyway, its more that it appears they currently don't have planning permission for phase 2 extended type houses and DLR said they won't be making a decision on this until the earliest of 31st of January, which may delay things further. They have applied for retention planning permission for 3 houses already built in phase 1.

I wish we just knew what was happening, the lines of communication are definitely not clear. My solicitor has rang me twice to ask are we pulling out of the sale, as she still hasn't heard anything from the vendor.

Shedzafew

Hi,

Just a quick one on the solicitor side of things. How much did you guys get charged by your solicitors for completion of this sale? I initially thought that as they were new builds that the job would be simple enough but it would appear that the contrats were more complex than that with additional issues to resolve. I ask as I am looking at buying in the next phase up in Belmont.

Thanks

abrahamb1111

Friends,

Those who have moved in ; could you recommend a good installer for Security alarms ? Please PM me if you know or have contacted some one. Mine is a 3 bed semi.

Marky Marko

abrahamb1111 wrote: »

Friends,

Those who have moved in ; could you recommend a good installer for Security alarms ? Please PM me if you know or have contacted some one. Mine is a 3 bed semi.

Can't recommend www.securigard.ie highly enough.

Jared20130204

hi All,

I received an alert from myhome during the week, announcing launch of phase 3. Belmont early spring 2014. One of the selling points was that 70 houses had already sold.So I checked property price register to see how many have actually completed and I can't see a single house sold yet. I know some of you have completed and maybe there is a slight delay getting the properties on price register website...or am I searching incorrect addresses... I just put in Belmont....and I don't see anything related to the houses here?
When I looked at myhome just now it doesn't say 70 houses have sold,so maybe that's used only for direct mails, but it seems to me the agents are telling a complete lie wrt no. Of houses actually sold. Another dishonest slant to the whole Belmont mess.

Baileys4

Jared20130204 wrote: »

hi All,

I received an alert from myhome during the week, announcing launch of phase 3. Belmont early spring 2014. One of the selling points was that 70 houses had already sold.So I checked property price register to see how many have actually completed and I can't see a single house sold yet. I know some of you have completed and maybe there is a slight delay getting the properties on price register website...or am I searching incorrect addresses... I just put in Belmont....and I don't see anything related to the houses here?
When I looked at myhome just now it doesn't say 70 houses have sold,so maybe that's used only for direct mails, but it seems to me the agents are telling a complete lie wrt no. Of houses actually sold. Another dishonest slant to the whole Belmont mess.

I'm not sure who updates the property price register but it would appear that there is a delay as we have completed along with several others. I think the 70 houses sold is a half truth, phase one as far as I know are all but complete in terms of contracts having been exchanged etc although most not actually closed yet. Phase 2 I think are still at contract issue stage so although they may have deposits for 70 houses, they're not officially "sold".
Have to say we could not be happier in Belmont so far and looking forward to our first Christmas in our new home, best decision we made!

Lillian123

Hi Baileys4,

Thanks for the update. Could you give us any update on the contract issues, how was the AIB charge sorted? Did you sign on the basis that it would be sorted, or was the contract updated to reflect this?

Is your house one of the houses that have applied for retention planning permission or has it full planning permission?

I don't think they have officially sold any of phase 2 houses, as nobody has there contracts yet.

camo

Anyone have satellite or broadband installed yet? Apparently there's a company called Sky Conway who can provide it. On searching them in Google or here the feedback is poor.

copacetic

camo wrote: »

Anyone have satellite or broadband installed yet? Apparently there's a company called Sky Conway who can provide it. On searching them in Google or here the feedback is poor.

Don't use them, go direct to the providers if possible.

Marky Marko

I have SKY Conway broadband - Its supposed to be 100M but I'm getting 20M on wireless and about 50 connected directly to the modem.

Its €27 per month - which is pretty good even if the speeds are not …er….up to speed !

In fairness they have been very good to deal with - checking with me as to what speeds I am getting - plus the engineer gave me his mobile and said to call if there was any problems…..and as a bonus they have wired the communal dish and antenna to my house - not that I need it as I have my own dish and account with SKY….but the thought was nice.

I'm going to chase them in the New Year if the speeds do not improve - but as I said - quick install - no cables running down the exterior of the house and great customer service (so far !).

cmore123

I handed in a deposit cheque for €5000 for a Derrybawn... and now I'm getting worried! It's in Phase 3....

They say it will be ready in May or so.....

Shedzafew

Hi new movers. Just wondering how things have gone for your first few weeks up in the development? Can you please let me know if there was an ESB connection for the homes or if you had to pay to get one installed? What providers have you used for internet/tv and how have you found them?

Baileys4

Lillian123 wrote: »

Hi Baileys4,

Thanks for the update. Could you give us any update on the contract issues, how was the AIB charge sorted? Did you sign on the basis that it would be sorted, or was the contract updated to reflect this?

Is your house one of the houses that have applied for retention planning permission or has it full planning permission?

I don't think they have officially sold any of phase 2 houses, as nobody has there contracts yet.

Hi Lillian123,

Sorry for the delay. When we first got our contract there were a number of discrepancies in it that had nothing to do with our property. I think another poster referred to a copy & paste job but one item our solicitor queried was an AIB charge. I'll be honest I don't remember the details of it but when we got the revised contract, there was no mention of a charge. We also have full planning not retention planning.

On some of the other posters queries, I wouldn't recommend Sky Conway as you end up paying a monthly fee on top of the monthly bills. We went direct to UPC. We had electricity, gas etc when we moved in and just had to contact the providers with metre numbers, MRPN's etc to put in our name.

chakan

Hi guys, just looking at all the threads, nobody has mentioned the pricing for any of the houses in this development. Can anyone give me an indication of the sale prices for phase 1 and 2? I am asking as I have only just noticed advert for phase 3 on my/home but there are no price details yet. Thanks for your help.

Shedzafew

There have been a number of different style houses sold in Phase 1 & 2. What style of house specifically are you looking for info on? Some of the properties are starting to show up on the property price register also which will be a good indicator.

Be mindful that the property price register values for the Belmont sales are ex VAT of 13.5% so multiply by 1.135 to get the sale price.

Shedzafew

Cmore why are you getting worried? People have started to move in and there have been around 50 contracts signed. Interesting article in the times over the weekend on the developers http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/irish-builder-gambles-100m-on-property-market-revival-29888570.html . Seems to be some big names involved which boosts confidence levels for me.

Jared20130204

Hi Chakan,

The properties sold are now available to view on propertypriceregister.ie...Just agree to terms on RHS of home page and search belmont stepaside. THere are about 9 up so far.

Hi other Phase 2 people,

The vendors solicitor has come back saying they are awaiting more info. on queries regarding title deeds. All seems to be in "mapping" phase on land registry, which may mean We'll all get clean title on the re-issued contracts. Fingers crossed!
Great re. the Electricity being brought into the house..that was another question my solicitor had. On 10% purchase price deposit... they seem to want that paid directly to the developer, which is unusual. Normally it's held in trust with vendors solicitor until closing.
Did anyone else come across that issue?

Shedzafew

Jared, the 10% deposit is covered by home bond so if it is held by the solicitor or the developer it does not change your position. Have you asked your solicitor why he is unwilling to proceed with the contracts that have been signed off on my a number of other solicitors? I have family moving up to the development and they had the same problems initially with the contract. They asked their solicitor to look at it closer and 2 days later he was satisfied that the title was in fact clean. I think the main issue is the unnecessarily complex nature of the contracts sent out by the vendors solicitors which were over 200 pages.

Jared20130204

Hi Shedzafew,
The Home bond documentation was not sent to my solicitor and the vendors solicitor has reverted saying they are awaiting same. Perhaps this is why there was an issue.

I wouldn't sign off on a contract that still has a number of outstanding issues, just because a bunch of other solicitors have signed off.
I think if you look through the thread, you'll notice that there are still a large number of people who have not had sign off by their solicitors.

It's all looking more positive for sure, but the main point in all of this is getting the title registered. Otherwise I would be buying a place not actually owned by those selling it to me...Now, that is risky in my mind.

Shedzafew

Jared,

From speaking with Sherry Fitz in last few weeks I was told that only 2 people who had put down a deposit were yet to sign. I know one of these parties has now signed. I'm not saying that this is fact but it is what I was told. I know that a few parties have pulled out as a result of the issues with the contract but these houses have either been sold to people on waiting lists or will be sold in the 3rd phase.

I wouldn't sign off on contracts with a number of unresolved issues either. What I was saying was to make sure your solicitor has properly examined the contract and raised the queries with the vendors solicitor. After 2 months of refusing to sign the contract my family member who bought up there had to push their solicitor to look for answers on the issues. Within two days his solicitor (who would be viewed as being very cautious) was satisfied that it was a clean title.

The reason the family member pushed his solicitor was because they were told that there was a strong possibility their deposit would be returned if they didn't sign. Whilst this could be seen as bully tactics it got the wheels in motion to come to a point where all issues were dealt with. They are moving in before the end of the month.

nakom

Shedzafew wrote: »

Jared,

From speaking with Sherry Fitz in last few weeks I was told that only 2 people who had put down a deposit were yet to sign. I know one of these parties has now signed. I'm not saying that this is fact but it is what I was told. I know that a few parties have pulled out as a result of the issues with the contract but these houses have either been sold to people on waiting lists or will be sold in the 3rd phase.

Are you talking about phase 2? If so that's most likely not true. In this thread there are at least Lillian123 and myself that haven't signed.
My solicitor already sent 2/3 requests to the solicitor vendor with no answer whatsoever.
SF doesn't reply to my emails either.

Jared20130204

Hi Shedzafew,

That certainly does sound like bully tactics. I wonder who told them that?!
I'm under no pressure actually. My solicitor has asked all the correct questions and the delay is with the Land registry getting the new owner of the land registered. It's quite straight forward from what I can see. Vendor seems happy to get our queries dealt with and I have heard nothing about having deposit returned and I don;t expect to.

Shedzafew

Well that's good that you are happy with your solicitor. Family member was told by someone in Sherry Fitz and their solicitor was advised by the vendor's solicitors that the developers could potentially return their deposit if contracts were not signed. I think that it's more likely to have been an attempt to speed up the process with very little intention of ever returning the deposit. From what I hear Barry in Sherry Fitz has been very good to deal with.... Nice to hear some positive reports about estate agents!

The land registry issue was resolved for my family member as the vendors solicitors gave some sort of assurance that they would be responsible for the completion of the process.... from what I understand it is 99.9% done and only a straight forward paper process left. I won't comment too much more as I am not certain and don't want to be giving false info!

Good luck with it all. I am looking to possibly buy in phase 3 if the price is right so hopefully I haven't missed the boat.

Jared20130204

nakom wrote: »

Are you talking about phase 2? If so that's most likely not true. In this thread there are at least Lillian123 and myself that haven't signed.
My solicitor already sent 2/3 requests to the solicitor vendor with no answer whatsoever.
SF doesn't reply to my emails either.

Hi Nakom,

I think Shedzafew must be talking about phase one buyers. Maybe bully tactics were employed before this thread kicked off but I don't think they're trying anything like that now. Thank god for boards.ie, otherwise We'd all have zero transparency on this.
I take everything agents say with a pinch of salt in general.

nakom

Jared20130204 wrote: »

Hi Nakom,

I think Shedzafew must be talking about phase one buyers. Maybe bully tactics were employed before this thread kicked off but I don't think they're trying anything like that now. Thank god for boards.ie, otherwise We'd all have zero transparency on this.
I take everything agents say with a pinch of salt in general.

Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, I'm not in a rush to move in. I just want the contract to be clear and issues free. Hopefully we'll know something more by the end of the month