Thinking about buying in Charlesland

Anry

Hi All, that’s my first post here. Hope to get some advice please. We’re looking to buy in Charlesland but not very familiar with the area, although we viewed the property and spent about 2 hrs making circles around the place :) It looks quite well at the first glance, how does it feel living there? Thanks!

2011

I know a lot of people that live in Charlesland. That all seem very happy there.

The original build quality, plumbing, wiring, insulation etc. is very poor but in many of these homes these issues have been resolved over the years. I would recommend that you check that important upgrades such as boiler replacement have been completed or allow for costs to deal with this.

Anry

Thanks a lot!

ellejay

The plumbing is pretty bad particularly in winter.

The houses are actually quite small, they were called townhouses at one point and I think that's an appropriate description.

I really don't know how families with kids live in the two beds as the space really is quite small, throw in a few schoolbags and space is all gone.

you want to look at a three or four bed house so the living space downstairs is bigger.

The houses are at the stage where everything needs to be replaced.

Anyone I know living in Charlesland has had to replace the boiler (2k) Put in Double Glazing as the windows are badly warped (10k?) Upstairs bathrooms leaking which can be fixed but due to age they gut that bathroom and re do so anything from 200 for a fix upwards.

The kitchens are certainly workable / livable but you'll find under the sink leaking, the white coating is peeling off the cabinet doors and the oven if not already replaced is probably not working. Possibly same for the under counter fridge and freezers.

You can pretty much guarantee the kitchen out pipe to the main water works is blocked up.

Most houses have removed the gas fire's as they leak gas and are very dangerous.

A huge issue is dogs.

People put them outside all day in all weather types and they drive everyone else mad with their constant barking.

Lately there's been issue's with teenagers gathering in the area, there has been a lot of giving out on facebook but seems to have cooled off now the summer is here.

If you plan to drive into town every morning, the only description suitable is hell on earth.

In saying all that, it's a nice location with walking distance Greystones village and the beach.

Access to the dart and there are some buses that run into town for working hours.

It depends what you're looking for really and what stage of life you're at.

If you've any questions fire away

2011

^^^^ That aligns with what I have seen.

However, as the estate is has been around for so long most of the houses have resolved these issues. Inhabitants simply had to as the initial standard of workmanship and materials were so poor. I would suspect that most / all have new boilers and quite a few have replaced the windows and external doors.

Plumbing is shocking alright, this is particularly evident in the main bathrooms. This is the area I would look closely at as it can cost a fortune to put right. Some have fixed this others haven’t.

loyatemu

A huge issue is dogs.

People put them outside all day in all weather types and they drive everyone else mad with their constant barking.

ha - that takes me back to the early days of this forum! I assume the original Yipper has long since passed on, but his spiritual successors continue annoying the hell out of everyone within earshot.

Barking dogs are an issue in most estates though in fairness.

2011

Having lots of dogs around is simply a consequence of living in a large very high density estate. The numbers of dogs will increase as the number of adjoining estates increases, such as Hawkins Woods. This should not be a surprise.

KaneToad

Dogs are an issue in rural areas too! It's relative. The quietness of a rural area can be greatly distorted by 1 dog. The urban area will have a higher level of general activity/noise - this will reduce the impact of dog noise.

TLDR: Dogs barking will always be an annoyance irrespective of area.

2011

Yes, but more dogs = more dog noise.

…..and more people = more dogs.

I say that as a dog lover

KaneToad

But more people = more other noise and relative impact of dog noise reduced

2011

I think the message here is that Charlesland is a very noisy palce to live 😀

I don't think people living there give it a second thought though. As above, once the issues with build quality are resolved people seem to be very happy there.

Viscount Aggro

Build quality? You mean, the fact you can hear people flushing toilets next door, and 2 doors down?

loyatemu

when I lived there (in the Grove) I thought the sound insulation was OK - I've certainly lived in places where I could hear everything going on next door, but that wasn't the case in Charlesland.

pcardin

Living in Charlesland myself for some time, was a great place when we moved in. As some posters say, it looks great, but... Its a noisy place, lot of barking dogs, house alarms, a lot of knackers have moved in here lately turning once such a great place into a kip. Driving to Dublin gets more and more complicated as N11 in the mornings is nothing else but a massive carpark.