Clonroosk Abbey, Portlaoise

RichRooskey

Hi All,

I and my wife have put a deposit down on a new build in Clonroosk Abbey, Portlaoise. Just wondering if anyone has purchased one of these or lives / know the estate and could share their experience?. From what we have seen the estate seems very nice and the town has all that we need to live a nicer life away from renting.

My wife will be looking for a new job but I will commute to Citywest three times a week only as I work 12-hour shifts which I hope will allow for some remote working in the future as Covid has proved is possible in my area. I have also timed the drive and it is exactly 45 minutes which is not bad at all.

Thanks all.

_Kaiser_

I'd be wary of that commute timing to be honest. Depending on when you're travelling it could easily be double that if there's an accident along the way in the morning (historically at the M9 merge), or just congestion around Kill (exit 7).

Current traffic levels would not be representative of the norm

ZN2400

Hi,

Thank you for making a thread on Clonroosk Abbey. We are moving to Clonroosk Abbey this year as well.

I saw a Facebook group of Clonroosk Abbey residents. You might want to join that.

I had been to the site twice. I did the neighbourhood check and spoke to a few locals before making the initial deposit. I am very bullish on my decision. I look forward to moving to Clonrook this year.

Kind regards,
Zain

jp.sriram

Hi Zain,

Did you guys move in to Clonroosk? It would be very helpful if you could share some details about the community.

Thanks.

ZN2400

Hi Sriram,

I haven't yet moved. They are saying, it will make a couple of more months before the site is fully ready. I am renting in Portlaoise at the moment and hoping to move to our house in Clonroosk soon.

I have also sent you a separate message.

Kind regards,

Zain

jmcgrath

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058188389/clonroosk-abbey-portlaoise

I've lived in Clonroosk Abbey since 2008 and it's a very nice estate. The builder has been on-site since then, which has helped with maintenance. The estate is home to a county councillor and a TD as well - this really helps for getting things fixed. The estate is mostly people in the mid 30's and 40s, with kids. There'd be a young teenage group and a babies group. The teenagers sometimes damage the entry walls sitting on them etc, but it's fairly tame. No issues in the construction quality of the houses, the new houses are built to a much higher spec as well with solar panels etc.

The farmer's field across from the entrance to the estate floods at times, so it makes it difficult to get insurance from some places - still handful of options though. The estate is generally seen as a more affluent and well-maintained area than the one immediately north (Fairgreen) or the older council estate to the south. Lovely people, close to shops and transport and the nice town of Portlaoise.

Happy to answer any particular queries anyone may have - you might private message me.

PanNiGrá

Hi Zain, hope you don't mind me jumping on this post. Are you buying one of the new builds? I'm buying one of them and our solicitor is being totally ignored by the builders when we ask for updates. Wondering if you're in a similar position or if you're getting anything from them? Would love to get in touch with anyone who is buying a new build there in general.

MAG2020

Hello PanNiGra.

We are also buying one of the new builds there and waiting since last year. Our solicitor is also being ignored by vendors solicitor.

Last time we went to the construction site to check, they told us October, but we don't have anything official from them.

Pissy Missy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119464433#Comment_119464433

Hi Jp, my friend has lived there for roughly 10 years and I would be there quite often. Personally I find the estate a mixed bag. There's different groups of kids who will hurl abuse at you, extremely young kids playing outside by themselves out on the road where you're driving so be careful, an ex con who has boxing matches outside his house and shouting matches with whom I presume are his friends and family, there was also a family who had their sofa outside their house on the front to drink cans on, don't know if it's being removed since. I believe there are a lot of council houses in the estate which will also being a mixed bag of people, just the luck of the draw who your neighbours are. Best of luck.

ZN2400

Folks,

I had a look at the site and state of play.

The roofing and structure are complete. I assume the houses are in a second fix state

The road works are ongoing and presumably would take another 4-6 weeks at the very least.

Thanks, Zain

MAG2020

Hi everyone,

I've been there on the 26th August and they said they would start ground works the coming Monday and it's been 4 weeks since. So in theory, it shouldn't take long from now..

ZN2400

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119601125#Comment_119601125

Hi PanNigra, we are buying a new build. I have posted an update just now. I hope you find it helpful. I know a few others waiting to get a handover of their new build in the same phase. It would be great to make a Whatsapp group which I think would be to everyone's benefit. Thanks, Zain

ZN2400

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119654797#Comment_119654797

Hi Mag,

Thanks for your comment. I doubt that. I think, they still require another 4-6 weeks time. Halloween, only if we are lucky. I wouldn't be surprised if we get the keys only pre-Christmas.

Thanks

ZN2400

Clonroosk Abbey.jpeg

Unsure if the attached picture tells much. That's all I could get :/

Sorry

MAG2020

Hello.

Does anyone have updates on the development?

Seems end of October was not close to the real completion date.

Thank you!

ZN2400

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119834634#Comment_119834634

Hi Mag,

It's a tricky one. Looking at the current state of the site, pre-Christmas if we are lucky. If not, probably be Q1 next year.

Thanks, Zain

skamilya

We did put deposit for the new build last year and same thing never got a proper update through solicitor.

By looking outside of the houses, most of the outside works has been done. They are working on interior and electric wiring currently.

I do visit site reguraly and there is very slow movement from developer side which is quire annoying. Not sure when they'll finish, maybe early summer next year.

skamilya

Looks like they have delivered Phase 1 of the development now.

MAG2020

Hi skamilya,

It's really good to hear from others in the same situation as us, even if it's not positive.

Hopefully they will finish soon the houses we're supposed to move into. For us it's been well over 18 months since we put the deposit down. It's becoming frustrating after such a long time.

Abbey_fan

Hi Folks, my wife and I also paid a deposit in May 2021 with the hopes of moving in October. Since then we have had no indication of when the private new builds will be completed. We have contacted our solicitor many times for an update and reached out directly to the Developers who said they were doing their best to have the houses completed (back in March). Its amazing to see that in Navan they have been able to complete 2 estates with the current houses being advertised at 370k for 3 bed semi - daft.ie/new-home-for-sale/bailey-hill-navan-co-meath/4509773

I strongly believe that we are being kept waiting deliberately, so after almost 2 years we give up and they can resell for a higher price to investors or social housing group.

I would like to hear if anyone else has any updates or news that is from a reliable source and not just rumours or hearsay.

Hoping for some good news and keys to our lovely houses in 2023!

MAG2020

Hey all.

We got an official, but approximate completion date - Mid-february 2023.

There's also a news online about the keys that were given to the Clúid for the first phase, where it's mentioned that 2nd phase will be finished in March and 3rd in June.

https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/property/976717/keys-before-christmas-for-long-delayed-laois-social-houses.html

We did see a lot of news all year about different terms, so I only believe in what was communicated officially to us, although not 100%sure.

Let's hope for the better.

Have beautiful holidays everyone!

PanNiGrá

Hi lads, sorry for posting and then just ghosting the thread - I didn't get notifications so thought it was just dead. We were told mid-Feb 2023 at the end of November and now the vendor solicitor is just back to ignoring us again. Our solicitor has followed up so I'll post again if we get anything back.

MAG2020

Hello.

Exactly the same is happening now to us.

Waiting on their reply.

ZN2400

I was on site today. I saw good activity but, the gas meters are not up as yet. Looking at the state of play, I think we are still looking at 2-3 weeks before the side of our houses is in a ready state of snagging.

End of February, early March, may be

If you guys get to hear from their side then please do post it here.

Thanks

skamilya

I did tried to contact Vendor solicitor for the completion time through my solicitor however seems like they have started to ignore and not responding at all. They just said they don't have update at that moment and need to consult with Developer to give us a timeline but that never happened after multiple attempt to contact them through telephone and phone sadly.

Is there any other way to contact Developer you guys think?

MAG2020

Hello skamilya,

Thank you for the update. Honestly, I hope we'll be getting closer to moving in soon.

The only update we got from our side was when we talked to the foreman by phone on Friday and he said it would be about 3 weeks until the house is ready for snagging.

Not very much official or anything, but it's the only term we're kind of clinging on at the moment.

Will send a message if we get any official reply from them.

skamilya

Thanks MAG2020,

That's at least an assurance as you've spoken with foreman and they are well aware of the situation to give you proper update on status.

Finger crossed, hope we all get our houses soon!

ZN2400

Hi @skamilya, @MAG2020, @PanNiGrá

Thanks very much for the update

Can I ask if any of us has visibility of Builder's plan to draw our HTB funds? Last I checked, the Builder didn't draw mine. It has been nearly 2 years. I can't get my hand around why the delay.

If at all, the Builder should be quick to claim our HTB funds (from Revenue), no? or am I missing anything in this equation?

Thanks for your help

Kind regards,

Zain

MAG2020

Hi Zain,

The HTB wasn't claimed from Revenue for us either. We've submitted the documentation once the contract was countersigned by vendor and it's pending still. We have provided all codes to the agent and solicitor, but nothing changed on revenue portal.

As far as I know, they should claim it as soon as possible, but I'm not aware of the procedure on their side.

Maybe before claiming, they need a documentation that the house has been completed, otherwise revenue won't let the money go. It's just an assumption from my side.

I am a bit concerned in general, but my only hope is that they won't go over the set contract term to complete it otherwise it would be a legal pain especially for them.

I wouldn't put my hopes in the foreman term.. They gave us several once last year also...

PanNiGrá

@zainjawedkhan @MAG2020

Exact same situation for us. I don't know why they didn't claim it immediately, I raised it with our solicitor and they thought it was incredibly strange too but no explanation.

ZN2400

@PanNiGrá absolutely!

MAG2020

Our solicitor said that they will claim it when we start the drawdown process. Not entirely sure of this step to be honest.

I am assuming we'll get a message from revenue once there's movement there.

MAG2020

https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/documents/htb-summary-contractors.pdf - but doesn't say anything about when this happens

skamilya

Same here, no claim so far. I had to cancel the old HTB and create a new one as my old mortgage offer expired and I had to go through all the process again. Did created a new claim this January and shared the code through my solicitor but there is no movement at all.

Couple of my friends who bought in some different estate in Dublin, once their contract signed complete vendor solicitor claimed the money. So its really strange for me as well.

MAG2020

We are not aware of having to go again through the HTB process if the mortgage approval expired. That's actually new to me.

We've been told just to wait for the HTB to be claimed, so we didn't touch it at all since we got it first approved, even if we went through another approval for mortgage.

PanNiGrá

This is exactly what I was thinking.

@skamilya were you advised by revenue that you'd need to submit a new application?

Honestly it feels like we're stuck on a merry-go-round from hell

skamilya

Hi @PanNiGrá ,

My Bank of Ireland representative asked me to do that as they need to issue a new loan offer all together and the loan reference changes.

So I had to include new load offer along with the signed contracts again on HTB portal.

MAG2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120216003#Comment_120216003

My Bank of Ireland rep said to leave it as is. I don't think either is wrong. When we applied again for mortgage there was nothing mentioned about updating this. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

ZN2400

Thanks for your contributions folks

I spoke with my friends who got the first-time mortgage and HTB. They were like there is no notification if and when the HTB claim is actually processed by the builder.

So, I called Revenue (sometime back). They were like we can't provide any info to you on the phone and suggested that I raise an enquiry on the Revenue portal which I did. The response to my enquiry was extremely generic. No affirmation (whether the HTB has been withdrawn or if it's still pending).

It's a merry-go-round as @PanNiGrá said.

Did any of you manage to get any sort of confirmation on the status of the HTB claim directly from Revenue?

MAG2020

Hi @zainjawedkhan

We ddidn't talk to revenue at all. We just have that status in the portal saying "you have a claim pending" and only 2 options, to view or cancel.

So we didn't get any sort of confirmation from revenue.

ZN2400

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120218735#Comment_120218735

Got ya... Thank you!

ZN2400

Folks,

Hope all is well.

Can I please explore if anyone got any further update(s) on the progress/state of the houses and possible snagging date?

Thanks, Zain

MAG2020

Hi Zain,

Apparently, they are waiting for the gas meters to be installed.. But they also need to install the radiators in some/all of the houses, not sure.. Bathrooms are not done yet, not sure of the stage they are in. I don't know of any estimated completion. Sorry if I didn't help much.

PanNiGrá

We were up there yesterday and obviously it being a Sunday there was no one around but it looked like the meters might be in now as the doors were closed. No official updates or anything though.

AHY

@zainjawedkhan @PanNiGrá @MAG2020 @Skam

guys I am thinking to buy home in Clonroosk abbey. Today I visit the place and I asked old people those are living in town Portlaoise but unfortunately I didn’t get a good feedback about that place. I heard that area is filled with more Anti-Social and rough behaviour people. The place was nice but the feedback left me with broken heart.

did you guys visited the place and ask for feed back ??? About that place.

Can you guys share you feedback about the place ?

MAG2020

Hello @AHY,

I would gladly answer your question, but we haven't moved in the area yet, so I, personally wouldn't be able to give any feedback at the moment.

AHY

A man has appeared in court accused of over two dozen thefts at Portlaoise Mail Centre. 

Oluwaseyi Ogundre, 22, of 51 Clonroosk Abbey, Portlaoise is accused of 29 thefts relating to cash, scratch cards, bank cards, St Vincent de Paul vouchers, Tesco vouchers, a wallet and one for all vouchers at the An Post Mail Centre, Father Brown Avenue, Portlaoise on dates between August 30 and September 12 last year. 

ZN2400

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120323426#Comment_120323426

Hi,

Thanks for the tag

I am reasonably fine and happy with the locality. You will find here and there incidents like these nearly everywhere. Have you been to Cloroosk yourself? do a neighbourhood check maybe?

If there is any other way we can help then please let us know.

All the best and kind regards,

Z

MAG2020

By the way, gas meters are still not installed and plumbing is not done. Bathrooms are still to be done, so not sure how long will it take for completion. No official comment on any date.

Not sure if anyone else knows more.

ZN2400

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120334828#Comment_120334828

Hi @MAG2020 - I think the gas meters are now in. I will update you and others as I hear more.

Let's keep each other posted. I think that's the best way.

Thanks, Z

mariam123_

Hello everyone on this platform. Just came across this page. We deposited for one of the houses in clonroosk abbey new estate. I think we are all on the same boat as per the information related to this estate. We are just looking forward to hearing from them one day that the house is ready. I hope we all get good news soon regarding the completion of it.

#waitingforamoveindate