Balbriggan /2015/ ?

d9d

Hi all!

Thinking about moving to Balbriggan.

There is fair few properties there for sale at a reasonable price)... Is there a reason?

I'm just curious is Balbriggan safe these days and is there any areas to avoid, and also is it worth buying there (I'm thinking about staying long term).

Any info will be highly appreciated? Thanks in advance.

kaisersoze

Yes is a great place to live.
Best parks in NCD, close to sea and airport.
Good rail and bus service to City.
Like anywhere it will have problems, but its great value as long as you buy in the right place.

Duzzer

d9d wrote: »

Hi all!

Thinking about moving to Balbriggan.

There is fair few properties there for sale at a reasonable price)... Is there a reason?

I'm just curious is Balbriggan safe these days and is there any areas to avoid, and also is it worth buying there (I'm thinking about staying long term).

Any info will be highly appreciated? Thanks in advance.

Low house prices for a reason. Better off buying somewhere else if you can. Balbriggan is only getting worse.

Kintarō Hattori

Duzzer wrote: »

Low house prices for a reason. Better off buying somewhere else if you can. Balbriggan is only getting worse.

Really? How so? I'm from Kildare originally, lived in the city centre for 8 years and bought in Balbriggan in 2011. I can't say I've seen any trouble, ever felt threatened or intimidated.

OP choosing a place to live is a complicated thing and depends on budget/where you work. For me working in the city centre Balbriggan is a 45 minute commute on the train. For that I can buy a house with a modest mortgage which allows me a better lifestyle than if I had perhaps bought elsewhere. There are many fine estates/places to live here and like anywhere there are some estates best avoided.

In the summer it's a wonderful place as it's close to town but fabulous countryside is only minutes away. The seaside is a fantastic thing which you can enjoy on a warm summers day. As I mentioned Dublin is 45 minutes away but you have good alternatives for shopping in Drogheda and Swords. Eating out is a downfall in Balbriggan but Drogheda and Skerries which are both short drives away have plenty to choose from.

Would I want to live here all my life..... no. Do I regret buying here and not somewhere else.... no. It's a fine place to come and put down some roots for a while. Like absolutely any location on the planet there are good/bad spots and good/rough people.

kjr77

Duzzer wrote: »

Low house prices for a reason. Better off buying somewhere else if you can. Balbriggan is only getting worse.

Duzzer, back up your statements with some examples. I've lived in balbriggan for over 10 years and have no experience of things getting worse. In recent years the addition of millfield shopping centre with tesco, boots, easons, mcdonalds ect has been a real plus. i think balbriggan offers value for money in an other wise crazy housing market. The prices reflect the fact that the town is that bit further out and that there was an over supply of housing built here during the boom years.

Moonbeam

It depends,I enjoyed living there and it is definitely worth looking in.
It has the beach and the shopping centre and the train service.
It is near the motorway.
If you are buying there I would personally buy in an older estate and not in the newer ones.
There are some pyrite issues in Moylaragh too.
The rental market is excellent.

I left for many reasons but I do not regret buying there.

PurplePrincess

I've lived here for 10 years and wouldn't be in any rush to leave. Like everywhere there is good and bad parts and people in Balbriggan but I've never seen or experienced any trouble.
Location wise its handy for the M1 and the airport. There's good transport links with the bus and the train service.
Plenty of schools but not sure about places or waiting lists as I have no children.
Lots of sporting clubs.
Food wise there is an over abundance of takeaways and a lack of restaurants but Skerries and Drogheda are both close. There is a Thai restaurant that I've heard good things about but I've never been so can't comment
Some of the build quality in the newer estates is not great so make sure you get a good survey done.
Beach, harbour and Ardgillen Castle would all be on your doorstep.
Despite the vast influx of people over the last few years there is a good sense of community.

Most important thing I would suggest to you is to come out and drive and walk around at different times, or if it was cheap enough book a night or two in the hotel and "live" here and see what you think.

RORY O CONNOR

Research for Pyrite-its a prime location for this issue. Its in Fingal councils domain. Of the 700 or so houses already approved for re mediation works approximately 80 are in Balbriggan-these stats were published in the papers about six months ago, The most recent stats are here:

http://www.independent.ie/regionals/fingalindependent/news/many-pyrite-homes-are-being-fixed-34162145.html

Duzzer

Compared to the towns around it Balbriggan has been going backwards for the last number of years. What was once an industrious town has been reduced to a shadow of its former self. Over the boom years the town was allocated the social housing quota for other towns in Fingal such as skerries and malahide. These towns have thrived and have plenty of nice places to eat and drink that you all refer too while Balbriggan has take aways to cater for people who are on welfare or don't have much disposable income. If you have bought a a house in Balbriggan anytime up to 2008 you are stuck here for the forseeable future unless you can come up with the money to pay off your negative equity so I suppose it's better to stay positive on threads like this and let on how you can't see things aren't good in Balbriggan.

BMJD

lol thanks for the laugh

kjr77

Duzzer, i don't think its fair to compare balbriggan to Malahide where the houses are 500k plus. Nobody has claimed that the town doesn't have problems and i agree that there are too many chippers but you could say the same about half the similar sized towns in ireland. We are just highlighting the good points about living in the area.

Duzzer

kjr77 wrote: »

Duzzer, i don't think its fair to compare balbriggan to Malahide where the houses are 500k plus. Nobody has claimed that the town doesn't have problems and i agree that there are too many chippers but you could say the same about half the similar sized towns in ireland. We are just highlighting the good points about living in the area.

Ps. Forgot to say, dumping the contents of a refugee camp here makes the place look like a shanty town at times.

The Hill Billy

And exactly how is that?

Duzzer

The Hill Billy wrote: »

And exactly how is that?

You're clever enough, figure it out.

The Hill Billy

That being the case - find somewhere else to post your veiled racist musings.

Banned.

tHB

robertpatterson

If you can buy the same house closer to town for around the same money id do that
Balbriggan is starting to get the run down look of many of Irelands rural towns you only have to go through the main street and look at the businesses that have closed down
I like Balbriggan but its not the same town it was a few years ago and there are a lot of the new builds like Moylaragh that have pyrite issues so you could be buying a lot of hassle I was in one house up that way and the crack from the bottom of the wall to the seiling had to be at least an inch wide

BMJD

Pyrite remediation is currently underway there so it shouldn't be a problem for much longer.

Also, at least 2 empty units on the main street are due to reopen soon.

jdhbigjohn

Hi Folks! My wife and I are considering relocating from Yorkshire to Ireland. To put it mildly, we are more than a little disillusioned with life in the UK and want to make a fresh start in your Country.
We are at a very early stage, but Balbriggan has caught my eye. However, the conflicting comments I hear and read are a bit confusing! Moreover, the property prices seem to be a bit lower than I would have expected. Could some kindly soul explain please? Are there certain areas that it might be wise to avoid?
My wife and I are non-drivers, how easy is it to find a decent property within a ten minute walk to the train, please?
I am the type of person who likes to 'mix in' and play my part in local life. I understand there is a Cricket Club and as an umpire for well over thirty years, I would be applying to join the Leinster Cricket Union in that capacity, as well as (hopefully) doing some voluntary work for Rugby League Ireland (I'm not into Rugby Union).
Any advice on life in Balbriggan would be greatly appreciated!
Thank You!

charlietheminxx

Hello! Sorry you haven't had any replies, think the site being down left you hanging. I've heard mixed things about Balbriggan these days to be honest. I don't live there though so I can't give a more informed opinion, although I do have a family member living there who is selling up and moving to another part of Dublin as they no longer like the area.

North County Dublin in general is lovely though, would you consider Rush? Smaller town, nice community feel, great beach for walking on, local cricket club etc. The 33x express bus would be the best way to Dublin city centre from Rush, it takes about 45-50 mins depending on traffic and where you're getting off.

dslamjack

Hi Bigjohn ,being non drivers shoul't really be a problem,in Balbriggan the cricket club and rugby club are adjacent to each other in Balrothery, also a short bus journey to the rugby club in Skerries or the cricket club in Rush or the train to the cricket club in Malahide.
That's the great thing about NCD , you're in the ''country'' without being too far from anything hth's

Kintarō Hattori

I posted the below a few years back when someone else had asked about moving to Balbriggan. It still stands so here you go:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=79864522&postcount=3

Woot- welcome to the neighbourhood. The good lady and myself took the plunge and decided to buy a small house here just last year. I rented here about 7 years ago and didn't like the place. Fast forward 6 years later and the only nice house we could afford was in Balbriggan so we headed out to investigate and found a town transformed- it had grown up from boy racer central to being a town inhabited by young families.

We moved in and love the place. People are much friendlier than town. You can see it in the little things- such as how much room they give you when passing you while cycling. A nod of the head and a hello when out walking.... and so on.

I get the train into town but just feed the card into it so can't remember what the exact cost of a train ticket is- but it's around €120 per month. If your employer supports it, you can apply for the scheme that lets you pay less..... something to do with the tax rate your on.

There is a good community feel- as said, the town is populated by lots of young families. Local businesses, along the main street are generally very friendly and have that old town feel. You don't get that so much in the shopping centre but that's hardly surprising.

Heh I can't answer the football side of things as I haven't much interest in that but there are lots of pitches in the town that are used for kids leagues, so presumably there is probably some sort of league for adults.

There are a lot of estates both old and new. The only one I've heard of so far, via boards, that may be infected with pyrite is Moylaragh. There is a thread about it here on the NCD forum.

Once again, welcome to Balbriggan. It's a really lovely place to be. If you put some effort into your local community you'll get a lot out of it. If I can help you with anything please feel free to send me a pm and I'll do my very best to help.

T-Maxx

The way I see this is that there are two distinct groups of people having their say here;

a) The people living in Balbriggan, being protective (and proud I suppose) of their area and their town - rightly or wrongly so - being biased to a certain degree
b) Those who have lived in there in the past (maybe some who've never lived there at all), being biased to a certain degree.

I don't live in Balbriggan and don't aspire to either so my opinion doesn't matter either way.

kjr77

T-Maxx wrote: »

The way I see this is that there are two distinct groups of people having their say here;

a) The people living in Balbriggan, being protective (and proud I suppose) of their area and their town - rightly or wrongly so - being biased to a certain degree
b) Those who have lived in there in the past (maybe some who've never lived there at all), being biased to a certain degree.

I don't live in Balbriggan and don't aspire to either so my opinion doesn't matter either way.

Great analysis there T-Maxx, you've made it clear what side of the fence you are on anyway.

jim-mcdee

I would think carefully and consider renting here for a little bit before buying. House prices have settled so there is no rush to buy. I live in balbriggan and while it has good points it's got bad too. It's not comparable with the traditional rough tough areas, but neither is comparable with more up market towns. Very much a mixed bag. A good bit of anti social behaviour in the town. Though you rarely hear of serious crime.

Tawyelan

Hi everybody,
Im thinking of buying a house in Balbriggan in Moylaragh estate and would like to hear some advise on if Balbriggan is a good place to buy. I heard people talking that Balbriggan has a bit of bad reputation but these people were not from Balbriggan and dont know the area at all. Could anyone from Balbriggan give me some advise please.

Tawyelan

Ive read all the previous posts but Id like to hear some more recent opinions please.

jim-mcdee

Tawyelan wrote: »

Hi everybody,
Im thinking of buying a house in Balbriggan in Moylaragh estate and would like to hear some advise on if Balbriggan is a good place to buy. I heard people talking that Balbriggan has a bit of bad reputation but these people were not from Balbriggan and dont know the area at all. Could anyone from Balbriggan give me some advise please.

Its a mixed bag that estate. I would spend some time there if I were you and check out the neighbors if you have your eye on a house. See are the neighbors owners or renters. It will probably be obvious from the outside which is the case. As is most areas of Balbriggan, it is slowly improving as prices rise and the less desirable move on due to affordability. There are signs of more small scale investment in the town center with vacants in development.

Kintarō Hattori

Hi Tawyelan,

There should be plenty of information on this thread so hopefully that helps. However if you have any specific queries that aren't answered here feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to answer them if I can. I've been living there since 2011.

DJMG92

Same, ask if you need anything. Living in Balbriggan all my life!

Asaiah

I lived in the southern part of Balbriggan for 9 months near Derham Park/Pinewood Green.

It was chaos, with teens running wild, throwing stones at houses every night, setting wheely bins on fire and in general causing mayhem. I had racist neighbours abusing the few foreign people that lived there and just general anti-social behavior on a near constant basis. I know that there are a few nicer estates that don't get the same level of hassle but personally I am turned off Balbriggan for life due to my experience. I know people who live near up near tescos however and love it there.

As others said it's a real mixed bag but be very careful.

Tawyelan

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Hi Tawyelan,

There should be plenty of information on this thread so hopefully that helps. However if you have any specific queries that aren't answered here feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to answer them if I can. I've been living there since 2011.

Thank u very much for ur reply, much appreciated. Would u know anything about the Moylaragh estate? I'm a bit worried about the pyrit issue. The owners r getting the green cert for us at the moment and t house doesn't show any sings of cracks. Still I'm not sure if I could trust the cert 100 percent. I wonder how come some houses in Moylaragh are effected and some not even on the same street. Weren't they built by the same developer / builder at the same time?...

Kintarō Hattori

Tawyelan wrote: »

Thank u very much for ur reply, much appreciated. Would u know anything about the Moylaragh estate? I'm a bit worried about the pyrit issue. The owners r getting the green cert for us at the moment and t house doesn't show any sings of cracks. Still I'm not sure if I could trust the cert 100 percent. I wonder how come some houses in Moylaragh are effected and some not even on the same street. Weren't they built by the same developer / builder at the same time?...

That I can't answer for you, you'd really be best to speak to someone who knows what their talking about. It's odd indeed that some houses have an issue and others don't but perhaps there's a logical reason. The very fact that some houses have an issue would be enough to put me off the estate as a whole but that's just me.
Talk to an engineer and get some advice from them, they should be able to point you in the right direction and help you make an informed decision.

Tawyelan

Thank u very much, for all t replies ), great help. We talked to t survey specialist and once the owners will give us t certificate we will go to.check t house with our surveyor as well. We really like the house so if the surveyor guarantee me that the house is really ok, I'll buy it.