Moving to Dublin from Melbourne for a year. Safe suburbs for a family with toddlers

sputmayer

Hi Guys,
My wife and I have decided to move to Dublin for a year as part of my work transfer. We currently live in Melbourne Australia and absolutely love it but the excitement of working in Dublin and the extra money has lead me to take the bait. While I have read about crime in Dublin I believe it's like in any other city. My office location is in leopardstown and we had like to live not more than 7 miles from it since I prefer to ride on a pushy to work.
My budget is 1700 Eur and we are looking for 3 bedroom furnished house/apartment. While I do see some properties on daft.ie in my budget. I am not sure if they are in the so called ghost estates or rough areas. Last thing I need is a wife with 2 kids not able to get out. Can someone please recommend me
1) safe suburbs in 7 miles radius of leopardstown and also safe to ride from and to?
2) is 1700 Eur an ok budget for a furnished 3 bedder?
3) if I need to rent an estate car on a long term basis then are there any cheaper options?

strandroad

No ghost estates around Leopardstown and not many rough areas either. It's a popular area with good transport options so not sure about the prices there - you can post some daft links that you like and we can advise further. Rentals are furnished normally, you'd be hard pressed to find an unfurnished one.

subpar

In my opinion , having been in Melbourne and Dublin you are making the right decision, whilst the weather in Melbourne is better the lower cost of living in Dublin will give you more disposable income.

Dont be affraid to contact a number of estate agents in the general vacinity of your new job in Dublin , tell them what sort of accommodation and location you are looking for and the approx monthly spend you are prepared to go to.

Best of luck

Naked Lepper

if youre working in leopardstown it might be a good idea to rent somewhere along the green luas line, as it passes leopardstown and goes into the city centre regularly. dub 18 is a nice party of the city so anywhere around there would be a good choice

sputmayer

subpar wrote: »

In my opinion , having been in Melbourne and Dublin you are making the right decision, whilst the weather in Melbourne is better the lower cost of living in Dublin will give you more disposable income.

Dont be affraid to contact a number of estate agents in the general vacinity of your new job in Dublin , tell them what sort of accommodation and location you are looking for and the approx monthly spend you are prepared to go to.

Best of luck

After doing a bit of research, I have realized that Dublin is probably as expensive as Melbourne, perhaps a bit more if you include petrol(its double there), buying an automatic car, eating out etc.
I do get rental and allowances which makes it worth it and not to mention Ryan air to take us for some quick trips to mainland europe.

nc19

In general its the inner city and large parts of the north side of dublin that can be unsafe but there are exceptions of course.

The best value for money would prob be an older house in an established area like those in Dundrum, Ballinteer, Rathfarnham and Churchtown. All an easy cycle to your work and all with great public transport to the city centre plus you have Marlay Park and easy access to the mountains.

sputmayer

mhge wrote: »

No ghost estates around Leopardstown and not many rough areas either. It's a popular area with good transport options so not sure about the prices there - you can post some daft links that you like and we can advise further. Rentals are furnished normally, you'd be hard pressed to find an unfurnished one.

Hi,
I cant put complete urls since am a new user, but if you google the below bits, you should get the links to daft.

bracken-hill-blackglen-road-sandyford-dublin/1509793/

bracken-hill-stepaside-dublin/1510638/

rockford-manor-stradbrook-road-blackrock-dublin/1506879/

Only about 5 properties show up on daft when I do a search for
Cabinteely
Carrickmines
Foxrock
Kilternan
Sandyford
Ticknock
Ballyedmonduff
Stepaside
Leopardstown

this is with a minimum of 3 bedder and 1700 as max rent filter.
Not sure if this is right, looks like not much choice in those areas for that price range and our requirements.
Getting a bit stressed now

alias no.9

subpar wrote: »

In my opinion , having been in Melbourne and Dublin you are making the right decision, whilst the weather in Melbourne is better the lower cost of living in Dublin will give you more disposable income.

Dont be affraid to contact a number of estate agents in the general vacinity of your new job in Dublin , tell them what sort of accommodation and location you are looking for and the approx monthly spend you are prepared to go to.

Best of luck

Be very afraid on contacting Estate Agents. Get your brief together before talking to them or they'll have you paying top dollar in a ****hole.

Technoprisoner

nc19 wrote: »

In general its the inner city and large parts of the north side of dublin that can be unsafe but there are exceptions of course.

The best value for money would prob be an older house in an established area like those in Dundrum, Ballinteer, Rathfarnham and Churchtown. All an easy cycle to your work and all with great public transport to the city centre plus you have Marlay Park and easy access to the mountains.

really???? large parts of north Dublin?

strandroad

sputmayer wrote: »

Hi,
I cant put complete urls since am a new user, but if you google the below bits, you should get the links to daft.

bracken-hill-blackglen-road-sandyford-dublin/1509793/

bracken-hill-stepaside-dublin/1510638/

rockford-manor-stradbrook-road-blackrock-dublin/1506879/

Only about 5 properties show up on daft when I do a search for
Cabinteely
Carrickmines
Foxrock
Kilternan
Sandyford
Ticknock
Ballyedmonduff
Stepaside
Leopardstown

this is with a minimum of 3 bedder and 1700 as max rent filter.
Not sure if this is right, looks like not much choice in those areas for that price range and our requirements.
Getting a bit stressed now

It's Christmas, rental (and any other) activity is suspended, don't panic just yet!

These are all fine estates. Rockford Manor is in Blackrock - great amenities, close to the coast, you have both DART and bus into town. Bracken Hill is a nice estate but it's much further out and much more car dependent.

Don't search by area name, select "South Dublin" and look at the map results instead.

bryantut

try blackrock and stillorgan area its close to leopardstown

sputmayer

mhge wrote: »

It's Christmas, rental (and any other) activity is suspended, don't panic just yet!

These are all fine estates. Rockford Manor is in Blackrock - great amenities, close to the coast, you have both DART and bus into town. Bracken Hill is a nice estate but it's much further out and much more car dependent.

Don't search by area name, select "South Dublin" and look at the map results instead.

Hi,
I am not dependent on the public transport since will be riding to work and back and Mrs will be using the car. As long as its safe and not in a rough area. I am happy to swap for a better area if it means forfeiting public transport, to accommodate for all the requirements in my price range.
Thanks

strandroad

Bracken Hill would be fine then, but in terms of amenities it's in the middle of nowhere
Deansgrange, Kilmacud, Monkstown, Dun Laoghaire might work too.

gaiscioch

Living on the city side of your work in Leopardstown will save you much time as you'll be avoiding the traffic in morning and evening.

Personally I'd choose Sandymount as you have a stunning beach to walk on in the evening and two little known beaches (Shelly Banks) and a long pier out by Irishtown Nature Reserve, another gorgeous evening walk. Today on myhome, however, the cheapest house in Sandymount is €1875 (http://www.myhome.ie/rentals/brochure/sandymount-dublin-4/2735928), while on Daft there's a house for €1500 (http://www.daft.ie/lettings/44-merrion-strand-sandymount-dublin/1514089/).

It's 9km from Sandymount (coming out of the city) to Leopardstown. If you're not mad about the sea ignore all of this!

gaiscioch

nc19 wrote: »

In general its.. large parts of the north side of dublin that can be unsafe

This is where a foreigner should start googling the musings of one Ross O'Carroll Kelly (ROCK).

zagmund

Check out the Dublin County South forum for other views & suggestions - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=893

z

fleet_admiral

nc19 wrote: »

In general its the inner city and large parts of the north side of dublin that can be unsafe but there are exceptions of course.

The best value for money would prob be an older house in an established area like those in Dundrum, Ballinteer, Rathfarnham and Churchtown. All an easy cycle to your work and all with great public transport to the city centre plus you have Marlay Park and easy access to the mountains.

Awful advice re: north Dublin. Vast swathes of the southside are very unsafe including areas very close to Leopardstown such as Moreen, Kilcross and Balally. You will also find there are more rough areas south of the liffey than north.
Op, my brother lives in the apartments behind the beacon. You could look there

on_my_oe

Rents in Dublin have gotten past ridiculous but coming from Melbourne it won't be too much of a shock as prices there have been silly for a while. The rental market here is very competitive; we are moving out of our apartment and our landlord was happy to forego our full notice period as he can raise the rent by €250/mth and he had 40 people view the week of Christmas.

Ignore the chatter about North Dublin; not only is it wrong (like everywhere, some parts are good, some are bad) but if you are working in D18 and intending on leasing just one car, it's irrelevant as North Dublin won't be of any interest to you.

I'd second the suggestion of the Beacon apartments or alternatively at a pinch, the apartments near Bewleys/ Vodafone. You can forget about a house really, but if you can find somewhere with good outside space it's not too bad.

Leasing companies usually deal with companies (fleet management) but maybe try Gowans or Joe Duffy.

Hopefully if you are with a decent multi national they'll not only help you with accommodation but also the other dramas of moving to Ireland... I'd suggest also reaching out on Facebook to the local Antipodean groups so you can start building a bit of a network before you the ground. Then meet the locals, they're a friendly bunch too, and they'll welcome any opportunity to rib you about the rugby this year.

sputmayer

on_my_oe wrote: »

Rents in Dublin have gotten past ridiculous but coming from Melbourne it won't be too much of a shock as prices there have been silly for a while. The rental market here is very competitive; we are moving out of our apartment and our landlord was happy to forego our full notice period as he can raise the rent by €250/mth and he had 40 people view the week of Christmas.

Ignore the chatter about North Dublin; not only is it wrong (like everywhere, some parts are good, some are bad) but if you are working in D18 and intending on leasing just one car, it's irrelevant as North Dublin won't be of any interest to you.

I'd second the suggestion of the Beacon apartments or alternatively at a pinch, the apartments near Bewleys/ Vodafone. You can forget about a house really, but if you can find somewhere with good outside space it's not too bad.

Leasing companies usually deal with companies (fleet management) but maybe try Gowans or Joe Duffy.

Hopefully if you are with a decent multi national they'll not only help you with accommodation but also the other dramas of moving to Ireland... I'd suggest also reaching out on Facebook to the local Antipodean groups so you can start building a bit of a network before you the ground. Then meet the locals, they're a friendly bunch too, and they'll welcome any opportunity to rib you about the rugby this year.

Hey mate,
thanks for that. I had be really keen on anything nice in a radius of 10 kms, I haven't been able to find anything so far. The budget is the issue, 3 bedder and furnished kind of makes it pretty hard. Having said that, I do not find the property but an external company my company has negotiated with for relocatons. So if they cant find an accomdation that meets my requirements in the budget(they specify a fair rental amount to my company) then they will have to go back to my company and say they need more money. Looks like they arnt on top of current Dublin real estate market. I have a con call with them around the 10th Jan. Need as much ammo as I can find before hand.

thanks again

Blowfish

Here's a fairly recent report on the renting situation in Dublin, with average rents by area broken down near the bottom.

on_my_oe

sputmayer wrote: »

Hey mate,
thanks for that. I had be really keen on anything nice in a radius of 10 kms, I haven't been able to find anything so far. The budget is the issue, 3 bedder and furnished kind of makes it pretty hard. Having said that, I do not find the property but an external company my company has negotiated with for relocatons. So if they cant find an accomdation that meets my requirements in the budget(they specify a fair rental amount to my company) then they will have to go back to my company and say they need more money. Looks like they arnt on top of current Dublin real estate market. I have a con call with them around the 10th Jan. Need as much ammo as I can find before hand.

thanks again

The majority of properties in Ireland (and the UK for that matter) are rented furnished, so the furnished bit isn't really a drama - the disappointing bit is the furnishings themselves, often a mix of IKEA and landlord cast offs... The concept of sleeping on someone's old mattress was difficult for me to get my head around (memory foam toppers helped but not much).

The relocation company's local agents should have a good idea I of the rapid rise in rents here but as a short introduction there are reports of 40 families a month becoming homeless due to rent increases and calls for rent controls to be brought in. Some of the MNCs are unhappy that their executives won't relocate to Dublin from the US etc as the rents are too high.

Looking at decent areas where a full time Mum would be happy sending her husband off to work each day, I'd suggest Dundrum or Blackrock, but the rents would need an increased contribution from your company. Also if you've not been inside a European home before, you may get a surprise - rooms are cosy small. Our bedrooms are 2m x 3m, 3m x 3m and 3.4m x 4.4m, and our three bedroom is 97sqm total - against an Aussie average of 245sqm. It does stop you from hoarding.

Have a look at the Luas route for stops, then cross reference on MyHome and Daft, and post general areas up on here, so the Southsiders can debate the crime rate and give you a heads up.

tony 2 tone

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Awful advice re: north Dublin. Vast swathes of the southside are very unsafe including areas very close to Leopardstown such as Moreen, Kilcross and Balally. You will also find there are more rough areas south of the liffey than north.
Op, my brother lives in the apartments behind the beacon. You could look there

Maybe by South side standards they are, I wouldn't call them unsafe at all. I live up by Bracken Hill and sometimes walk though those areas at night. Fairly quite.
Further on out the Luas line there seem to be more scrotes though, Leopardstown Valley and by stop for Carrickmines SC.
The only thing about Bracken Hill is that there is feck all amienities here(the late opening phamacy is great though), and car spaces seem to be in short supply but if you will have only one car its ok.

Skylinehead

tony 2 tone wrote: »

Maybe by South side standards they are

What? You think there's a difference between Northside standards and Southside standards?

greenbicycle

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Vast swathes of the southside are very unsafe including areas very close to Leopardstown such as Moreen, Kilcross and Balally.

Balally is unsafe?? Well that is a load of crap!

Op as others said, anywhere along the luas line from sandyford heading back towards the direction of stephens green would be ideal for you and your family. This includes balally!
You could also look at goatstown, ballinteer, churchtown,mount merrion and rathfarnham.

tricky D

Skylinehead wrote: »

What? You think there's a difference between Northside standards and Southside standards?

Let's not go there. It's not relevant or helpful considering the OP's needs.

nc19 wrote: »

In general its the inner city and large parts of the north side of dublin that can be unsafe but there are exceptions of course.

Please reacquaint yourself with the DC charter and what it says about crass generalisations before posting.

Aard

Leopardstown is bang in the middle of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. Anywhere in DLR would suit your family.

Teyla Emmagan

I take it your kids are small i.e. not going to be going to school over here? Because that would be your biggest issue regarding accommodation (getting them into school here can be tough). I would also be looking for somewhere on the Green Luas line (your wife can get it into town/Dundrum (shopping/recreation) with the kids). No one really drives into town here, so you need to be on good public transport links.

What about somewhere like this: http://www.daft.ie/lettings/castle-grove-kilgobbin-wood-sandyford-dublin/1508847/ My friend and her family live in this estate, it's very safe, and there's a shopping centre (for groceries) up the road. It's not terribly exciting, but it's a 'good' and quiet place to live. There's a montessori nearby that her little girl went to before starting school (I am presuming your kids are preschool). I know there's a dodgy estate somewhere close, but I believe the denizens get the bus, usually and not the Luas (she tells me). Sandyford village is also up the road, so places to eat out etc. And of course, a short cycle to work.

Closer to town on the Green line would probably be more interesting (older redbrick houses, less 'burby', better restaurants), but will be more expensive and this is more or less on your budget. You're also near Marlay park, and the mountains.

You're actually not going to go much wrong if you stay close to Leopardstown (it's all quiet, and burby), and all of Dublin is google mapped, so you can get a good look at the area before committing.

donaghs

Almost anywhere Leopardstown should be fine - being close to work is a big advantage. Being near the Luas is good too as its gets into town very quickly.

But you say you've two kids? You mentioned an apartment. Very few Irish apartments are built with kids in mind, so a house would generally be a better idea.

Depending on your kids ages (i.e. starting school next year), being near primary schools would be important too. e.g. walking distance is handy.