Lucan estates - Esker, Moy Glas, Finnstown

sowdublin

Hi all,

We are first time buyers and looking to buy a house in or around Lucan area. I need some honest reviews about the above mentioned estates. We are a young family and immigrated to Ireland a decade ago. We want to buy in an estate where we can settle in for long term and grow our family into.

Any suggestions/opinions/advise welcome.

Thanks in advance 😊

The_Conductor

One of the factors most people with young families have at the top of their lists when looking at estates- is which school catchments they cover. All of the estates you've mentioned are to the south of Lucan- and include several schools up there (including the large Gaeilscoil).

If you broaden your search somewhat- to include the north of the N4- you add access to the schools in St. Mary's Parish (however, you may remove access from other schools).

You also have access and traffic to consider. Getting in and out of Esker (and all up the 12th Lough Road- as it used be called) at rush hour is an interesting experience.

I'd seriously suggest you come along early some mornings- and in the evenings- try to make you way to your chosen destination at around 5PM- to get a feel for whether access and commuting to and from particular estates is better or worse for one or more than others........ It can take 15-20 minutes longer to get to Finnstown- than Esker- for example- and its only a couple of hundred yards.

I'd also suggest renting in the area short-term to get an idea of what its like from your own perspective.

I live in Lucan (and grew up here too)- its a nice place to live- but it has become massively over developed- which is a major issue. You need to have your eyes fully wide open when you're looking at the various areas.

Fk28

Hi all,

I have a viewing for a property in Finnstown on Thursday, just wondering if people know anything about the estate? The houses are quite expensive and prices seem to be rising rapidly.

The_Conductor

Fk28 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a viewing for a property in Finnstown on Thursday, just wondering if people know anything about the estate? The houses are quite expensive and prices seem to be rising rapidly.

It depends on which estate in Finnstown you're talking about- however in the context of Lucan prices, they are not among the most expensive in Lucan- and while they have indeed risen in price in the past 18 months- other areas of Lucan have risen for a much higher percentage than have the estates in Finnstown.

www.propertypriceregister.ie will give you an idea of recent prices achieved (plug in the desired time range, address details etc etc).

Its not a bad area- it has a lot of facilities and amenities on its doorstep- however the one massive issue as I see it (and I pass through the area every morning and evening)- is traffic. Unless you are exclusively using public transport (the local hub being just outside Superquinn)- it can be an utter nightmare trying to get in or out of the area.

I'd strongly suggest renting in the area for a little while- to get a feel for the area- before buying there. Immediately- I would suggest visiting the area between 8 and 9AM on a weekday- and again between 5 and 6PM in the evening (including the N4 in and outbound).

There are talks of increasing the frequency on the commuter rail line- however, keep in mind most trains are full long before they get to Adamstown

It is a nice area- you'll be hard pressed to get better in a modern context- but by God its busy............

the_syco

Fk28 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a viewing for a property in Finnstown on Thursday, just wondering if people know anything about the estate? The houses are quite expensive and prices seem to be rising rapidly.

Expensive due to supply and demand, I'd wonder?

If the house is near a green, check for tyre tracks routes from the off-roads. Have a mate in that area; he says it's grand if your road can't be used as a rat run to/from a green area.

willbeuptuesday

I posted on another thread about estates in Lucan, I live in an estate not too far away and two houses have been sale agreed this year and both achieved over 10% above the asking price. But the most telling factor was the amount of people queuing up to view these houses (at least 200 on a Saturday and this is a low estimate). The fact is the at Lucan is a nice place to live with some very good amenities especially in this area, traffic is an issue but in Dublin right now where is n't? These houses are affordable at the moment and are ideal for family's, there will always be a strong demand for these type of houses because anything being built today will be smaller. Also Kiseogue railway station will eventually open making the Griffeen area very accessible to the IFSC and Dockland via the Phoenix Park Tunnel. Lucan will soon be out of reach for the first time buyer but so will most areas of Dublin as it primarily becomes a supply issue.

The_Conductor

The supply side issues- are being addressed (slowly- but getting there). As you're probably aware- there is planning, both outline and actual planning, for another 18,000 units in the 12th Lock / Adamstown/ Newcastle area. It was referred to the Minister (given the proposed densities)- but cleared (unlike some other proposals such as Sallins which got nuked).

While Kiseogue is due to come on stream- the biggest issue at the moment- is most mornings and evenings you only have standing room (if even that) on the trains servicing the station. Unless there was a massive increase in capacity on the line- which I'm not aware is on the cards- I wouldn't go heralding access to the Train Station as a massive selling point for most people. As it stands- most people try to travel off peak- or a few drive a couple of stations up to Louisa- and use that instead- as its less stressful.

willbeuptuesday

100% agree what you say about the capacity issue, bad and all as we are at organising public transport they won't ignore the demand for capacity on this line for too much longer. They would have to address capacity before they open this station as it would increase the volume of people using the line enormously and in turn this would help to alleviate the traffic some bit. For first time buyers they need to look at these issues and others such as schools, other amenities etc.. and in my opinion Lucan ticks a lot of boxes which is reflected in the rate of house price growth. I'll bet you that Lucan will see double digit growth this year which will exceed the experts predictions.

the_syco

willbeuptuesday wrote: »

They would have to address capacity before they open this station as it would increase the volume of people using the line enormously and in turn this would help to alleviate the traffic some bit.

In the past, they reduced the amount of carriages on the Maynooth-Dublin line instead of increasing the amount, so logic doesn't always come into play.

Also, I'm assuming that there still no carpark there?

Nika Bolokov

Bear in mind there are thousands more houses and apartments to be built in Lucan and with further major development likely in Newcastle up the road (no infrastructure) and the proposed massive new town at Clonburris you could be buying into an area with even worse traffic problems than now.

van_beano

Nika Bolokov wrote: »

Bear in mind there are thousands more houses and apartments to be built in Lucan and with further major development likely in Newcastle up the road (no infrastructure) and the proposed massive new town at Clonburris you could be buying into an area with even worse traffic problems than now.

Sure the LUAS F line will be up and running by the time all those developments are completed :cool:

http://www.herald.ie/news/luas-link-with-lucan-will-whisk-an-extra-25m-to-the-city-centre-27888639.html

(Just ignore the date on the article)

The_Conductor

van_beano wrote: »

Sure the LUAS F line will be up and running by the time all those developments are completed :cool:

http://www.herald.ie/news/luas-link-with-lucan-will-whisk-an-extra-25m-to-the-city-centre-27888639.html

(Just ignore the date on the article)

Damn you- I spilt a cup of coffee over myself laughing at your article.
There is no money for this project- it ain't going to happen.........

van_beano

The_Conductor wrote: »

Damn you- I spilt a cup of coffee over myself laughing at your article.
There is no money for this project- it ain't going to happen.........

There's no need for it anyways, everyone will be too busy in the swimming pool

http://www.echo.ie/news/article/long-awaited-lucan-swimming-pool-to-open-by-autumn-2018

The_Conductor

van_beano wrote: »

There's no need for it anyways, everyone will be too busy in the swimming pool

http://www.echo.ie/news/article/long-awaited-lucan-swimming-pool-to-open-by-autumn-2018

The title of the article says its to open by Autumn 2018- what the hell happened to the community swimming pool- I still have my card for it- I got lifetime membership for a £200 donation at the time. Given the council took over and closed it- wonder what my lifetime membership is worth- nothing probably?