Buying a house in south Meath, which area?

Atomic Pineapple

I am looking at buying a house in 2017 and south Meath seems like the best value for my money without giving me a hellish commute into Dublin for work. The areas I have ear marked as keeping an eye on houses are Ratoath, Ashbourne and Dunshaughlin.

Ratoath would be my prefered option as it strikes a nice balance between the distance to home where parents are located and work in Dublin, I have rented in Ashbourne for a year and I didn't really feel like it was a spot that I'd like to live there long term but would consider it if it offers better value for money and resale potential.

I know very little about Ratoath or Dunshaughlin and I am wondering if there is any negatives to either area that I should be aware of when looking at houses there?

In general I am looking for anyone's opinions and experiences at buying/living in any of the three areas?

Jennypops

I moved to Ratoath about 11 years ago and love it. We had bought our first house in Trim but I never settled there at all so when we thought about moving we looked at Dunshaughlin, Ratoath, Ashbourne etc.
Hand on heart its a lovely place to live, great local amenities and easy reach of the likes of Blanchardstown/M50 etc. GAA, Rugby, Tennis, Theatre..tons of local groups.
Its quiet enough, odd bit of messing from some teens but rare and very very mild- not even close to what you get in other areas.
People are nice, decent pubs and takeaways- SuperValu is grand and of course you know whats in Ashbourne so thats dead handy.
My family are all southside Dublin so it was important for me to feel close enough to them which I do.
The estate I live in has had houses up for sale recently and they sell very fast- like everywhere prices dipped but are back up to a decent level. I think Ratoath is a great place resale wise as its got that village feel but is well linked and accessible- houses are well built (mostly - so always research the builder!!)
Bus service is a thousand times better than when we first moved here...train station not too far out of Ratoath...

In general- Ratoath would always be my first choice. Feel free to PM me if you need any more info.

Atomic Pineapple

Great post, thanks Jennypops, in terms of Ratoath I know its pretty small but are there any areas/estates to avoid?

Jennypops

Not really, its a great area overall. We stayed on the outskirts of the village itself- walking distance but not right in the middle of it all.
Steeplechase is very popular and is really well maintained plus the houses are very well built (McGarrell Reilly were the builders)
Meadowbank is lovely and theres a new estate just launched called Stonebridge which looks beautiful.
Maybe take a trip over, park up and have a walk around a few of the estates- or contact estate agents selling and arrange viewings- that will give you a good feel for houses and which ones you prefer...good starting point!

Good luck! Let us know how you go

Irish Steve

the issue that you may run into in all 3 of the towns that you mention, depending on your age, will be the availability of school places for children, all 3 towns are under significant pressure on places, even though a new and large education campus has just been opened in Ashbourne.

In terms of shops and related services, Ashbourne has the widest selection, Ratoath of course is not that far to travel to and from, Dunshaughlin is supposed to be getting an Aldi, but apart from that, there's a lack of larger supermarkets over there still, and there's not quite the same level of public transport to Dublin as there is from Ashbourne and Ratoath.

At this point, there's not much difference in things like Broadband, pretty much most of the area has Fibre broadband access on the larger estates.

Road access to Dublin from Ratoath is not as easy as from Ashbourne, as there's no direct access to either motorway, and the feeder roads are very busy at peak periods, especially if travelling conditions are poor due to fog, ice or worse.

I don't know how house prices compare between the 3, at one stage, prices in Ratoath were a lot higher than they were in the other 2, but that has probably been changed by the general drop that's only now starting to recover.

Galego

If you need info about Dunshaughlin let me know although you seem to lean towards Ratoath from what you said in your opening post. Dunshaughlin offers the best value for your money from the 3 towns you mention (imo).

Gamebred

If buying in Ashbourne be careful of Pyrite in houses.

andreac

Gamebred wrote: »

If buying in Ashbourne be careful of Pyrite in houses.

Dunshaughlin too. Waiting to get my house sorted at the moment.

Atomic Pineapple

We would likely to be focused on new builds to make use of the new buying scheme so pyrite shouldn't be an issue but if we do come across a non brand new house we are interested in I'll double check for pyrite, thanks for the heads up.

We're currently waiting to see the show house in StoneBridge in Ratoath.

Ronan H

I think Stonebridge is the only new build option in Ratoath at the moment. I live in Ratoath and my sister in law has bought one of the houses in Stonebridge, having lived in another estate in Ratoath for ten years or so. Stonebridge is lovely. The houses are fab, what I have seen anyway from the showhouses.

I may be wrong but there's possibly some development happening in Steeplechase also, I think I heard that recently but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe someone else can clarify.

I've been in Ratoath since 2004 myself and love it. Still has a lovely village feel even though the population is not quite village like!

Good luck with your search. If you have any other questions, please ask.

R

duffalosoldier

Ratoath gives you the best of everything - country lifestyle close to the city. I think all the pros and cons have been mentioned above and I would echo them all.
We wer going to buy in Dunboyne originally but moved to Ratoath 2 years ago instead for more value and haven't looked back really. People really are brilliant and real sense of community for such a large population. I joined the local Gaa club and have to acknowledge the good will between all the sporting clubs in the Village - they all support each other.

I know the 4beds in Stonebridge are pretty much all accounted for in phase 1. New other new developments on the horizon I don't think.

Ronan H

Any updates OP?