New Development - River Walk, Ballymore Eustace

ultracrepidarian

Hi All,

Starting a new thread for River Walk, one of the new developments in Ballymore Eustace, Kildare.

Has anyone else here bought in this development?

Good to stay connected.

Thanks.

Blackbird2022

Hi,

We have also bought a house in this development. We were notified last week that the hand over date has been pushed back. Have you any idea on dates for your property? I really hope it will be before Christmas.

Thank you.

ultracrepidarian

Hi Blackbird,

We were told at the end of November for handover back in May, but we haven't heard anything since. When was your original handover date? I was down at the site last week and they're making great progress on Phase 1, so it could be possible to make it in by Christmas.

Blackbird2022

The original date was 23rd of September and that was then pushed to the 14th of October and now it's from the 5th of November with them 4-6 weeks for snagging, etc.

We purchased a two bed so I'm sure it's different for all the properties too.

That's great that they are making good progress, it's going to be really lovely when it's complete.

ultracrepidarian

That's annoying but definitely worth the wait. The two-beds are amazing - the living/dining area is unreal. We purchased a four-bed that was only foundations when we went to view the show homes and now looks to be more or less complete now. They were finishing the boundary walls, levelling the back gardens, and finishing the interiors from the looks of it last week.

It's going to be a special development alright. Looking forward to getting in now.

Let me know if you get wind of a new handover date and I'll do the same.

Blackbird2022

Oh that's great. They will be amazing.

That's definitely given me hope so if they doing finishing touches like that now.

I will post here as soon as I know anything,

Thanks a mill :)

Illywhacker

Hi,

we have also bought in phase 1. We were given similar dates along the way and have also been told November 5th. When I contacted estate agents today, I was told some houses are starting snagging next week.

I’ll post any developments.

Blackbird2022

Hey,

Oh that's great news. Thank you, we will do the same.

ultracrepidarian

I spoke with the estate agent today and they said that our handover date had been pushed into December but the handover began this week and would go roughly row by row up until Christmas. So, it seems like all (or most) of phase 1 will be handed over by Christmas but we won't be closed until January.

Blackbird2022

Oh well at least that's a nice timeline. Good to hear, thanks for sharing.

Blackbird2022

Hi Illywhacker,

Just curious if you have heard anything yet about the proposed 5th of November closing date? I wonder how much notice they will give?

I'm just hoping it won't be delayed again. We requested a provisional BER certificate and received one this week with an A3 rating, even thought they are advertised at A2.

beepboopbeep

We got in to snag last week and were told that Irish Water is delaying things but there didn’t seem to be a good idea of when that would be resolved. The house was in great shape, though - very little to snag.

Blackbird2022

Oh that's brilliant. Great to hear. And did you get much notice for the invitation to snag? A week or ?

Thank you

beepboopbeep

Yeah, about a week but we haven’t gotten an official completion notice yet so it’s still a little unclear of when our move in date will be. I’m hoping things push on soon with the mortgage rates rising!

Blackbird2022

That's our worry too. We are with AIB and their rates are going up from the 14th of November.

That's strange about the completion notice. We kept hearing it was ESB who were delaying things there.

beepboopbeep

My impression is that the ESB are on site (our house had electricity) but are quite slow to complete the work on the houses so not all are connected yet. Irish Water don’t seem to be on site at all. That’s odd that your house got an A3 rating - don’t the regulations require at least an A2 rating now? We haven’t gotten a BER cert yet, although we haven’t requested one either.

Blackbird2022

Yeah I'm very confused about the rating. I will get my solicitor to follow it up so I'll post here when I find out. I had googled it earlier also and the regulations do stage that it has to be A2.

I hope you hear about a move in date soon.

MaximilienMK

Hi - we've bought a house in phase 1 also. Glad to have found this thread!

Nothing new to add though - similar to Illywhacker, we've been given 5th Nov for snagging but when I was last speaking to the Estate Agent, she told us not be surprised if this was pushed out a little more. We've been told the main hold up is Irish Water.

Can't wait to move in! Has anyone looked into snaggers? Any recommendations?

@Blackbird2022 A2 may be the current requirement but this particular development was approved in 2018 so I suspect you'd have to check what the requirement was in 2018

beepboopbeep

@MaximilienMK the A2 ratings apply to houses where construction started after November 2019. It was the second half of 2021 when these houses were started and the brochure has an A2 BER logo on it.

My snagger commented on how high spec the houses were relative to the usual developments he snags, which is a good sign!

Blackbird2022

Oh no, I hope it's not pushed back again. We are so eager to get in also.

We haven't contacted any snaggers yet so would be interested to know if people have recommendations too.

Hopefully the BER rating is just provisional and will be updated to A2 when the house is complete? 🤔 I will update when I hear from my solicitor anyway.

ultracrepidarian

@Blackbird2022 BER should definitely be A2, as @beepboopbeep said the construction started in 2021 so they're legally obligated to be A2.

@MaximilienMK, we were recommended Snag My House, snagmyhouse(dot)ie. We haven't gotten our date for snagging yet, so I can't comment on them first-hand.

Glad to hear people are getting in to snag. Hopefully, the hold-ups are minimal. I'd imagine they're keen to get some people in before Christmas and get some more money and start to promote phase 2.

lifewithabigspoon

Hi. So glad to have found this thread! We’ve bought in phase 2 and have been given a completion date of April 2023..can’t wait to move in 😊 Good luck to ye who are hoping to be in by Christmas! @ultracrepidarian let us know how you get on with snagmyhouse. Was recommended them also

MaximilienMK

Thanks @ultracrepidarian for name of that snagger! I'll check them out. @beepboopbeep Glad to hear that they seem to be in good shape. Would you recommend your snagger?

Our solicitor received a letter yesterday stating that there was delays. We presume it means our 5th Nov snag date is being pushed out again - ESB and Irish Water delays. A bit unfortunate but expected.

Has anyone heard any news on what the 'Design Centre' is for?

Illywhacker

@MaximilienMK i got similar notification. It’s great that they will allow us to snag prior to the connections which is something.

The BER cert I got was A2 but watermarked as ‘provisional’. Bank said it’s useful to have as an indication that the green mortgage will be approved but they do require the final one.

I think design centre, Creche, gym etc are not necessarily going to happen anytime soon. I believe Ballymore are not obliged, planning wise, to follow through on them. Estate agent said gym more than likely won’t go ahead. They might have more information on

I'm not a local but I am very familiar with the area. If anyone has questions about schools, amenities etc please feel free to DM me.

ultracrepidarian

The estate agent said similar to us, that the creche and gym are unlikely and are subject to whether they think the area needs them. They said the location of the gym is likely to be converted to another house. Not heard anything about the Design Centre, but I think it's a mini-town hall type building, so residents can use it for different things like OMC meetings, book clubs, bake sales, etc. Not sure how likely it is to be built though, especially considering there was no mention of it in the OMC fees for upkeep.

Blackbird2022

Do you know exactly what is included in the OMC fees? I never got a breakdown.

Did people find these expensive? We are first time buyers so unsure of how common it is or costly it is? But some people I mentioned it to seemed surprised at the cost.

Blackbird2022

Okay, so I just got confirmation that our property is A3 rated because of its orientation.

lifewithabigspoon

If you dont mind me asking @Blackbird2022 what is your house orientation. Ours will be East-facing

Blackbird2022

Hey @lifewithabigspoon no problem, so the front of our house will be south-facing.

ultracrepidarian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799589#Comment_119799589

Our solicitor said the fees were on the pricier side but because they include bin collection they were reasonable. The fees also include landscaping and maintenance of the development.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119800580#Comment_119800580

Interesting, it must be to do with the large glazed areas at the back of the house. I wonder if you have any recourse for them not reaching A2 on your house?

tnegun

Surely the onus is on the developer to get it to A2? Your solicitor should also refuse to accept it and the bank could have an issue too as the house isn't technically compliant.

Blackbird2022

@ultracrepidarian unfortunately I don't think so. We were just told that was the rating and depending on the orientation of the houses - they are A2 or A3. The development is advertised on daft.ie as A2 still.

@tnegun I asked my solicitor to follow up on it so they will hopefully let me know today. I know I was told at the viewing that the houses would be A2.

tnegun

Good luck with it, I grew up not far from there and have lots of happy memories from Ballymore in my youth!

MaximilienMK

@ultracrepidarian From an aesthetic point of view, I hope they do build the creche. I remember seeing a render of it somewhere and it seemed to be built entirely of stone so the building itself looked really nice.

@Blackbird2022 I have a copy of the initial service charge budget and it seems fine. It mainly covers the cost of bin collection, ground maintenance, managing agent fees, electricity, insurances, repairs etc. From experience, management fees can range from a couple hundred to a couple thousand so I'd say this is reasonable enough. It also means we're less beholden to the council to get things done and gives us a little more say in how the estate looks and functions. When our solicitor was reviewing title, they mentioned to us that it was clear that the intent was to make the estate somewhat high-end which I suppose can only be good for us as owners but also for property value?

Didn't think the A-rating of a house would be dependent on its orientation. Let us know how you get on with the solicitor - I'd be interested to know how that pans out.

This might be a little too soon, but should we create a resident Whatsapp group or similar?

ultracrepidarian

@MaximilienMK my wife and I set up a Facebook page about the same time as I started this thread but there's been no action on it yet. Happy to share that or move to Whatsapp if someone wants to set up a group? Good to keep communication going at this stage when there's lot of updates and change.

Blackbird2022

Thank you for clarifying the breakdown of the services charges. That seems fair when you consider everything covered.

Yes I'm open to either group suggestion also. Thanks.

MaximilienMK

I’ve set up a residents whatsapp group so we can keep in touch. If anyone wants to be added, just send me a DM with your number.

kdmik

Hi I'm interested in buying house in ballymore escute, but I'm just wondering if there are some flood issues. I saw a video that somebody recorded a short video that flooded in Ballymore escute. I don't know the area, but I hope it's not near housing estate. I'm also wondering if all properties are completely built (turn key condition)? Also is housing estate close to river? I appreciate that if anybody give some information. Is there any secondary school nearby?

Thanks

Illywhacker

I never heard of flooding but perhaps phone Kildare county council?

DM with other questions please!

tnegun

Re flood issues. I grew up near Ballymore and don't ever remember any significant flooding, it has the benefit of being immediately downstream of two dams and the spillways have never been used on either as the capacity of the main reservoir is so large, so in the event of significant rainfall discharge can be controlled very easily. You can check here too https://www.floodinfo.ie/map/floodmaps/ and I don't see anything listed.

Nialcon

Hi,

We are waiting for one of the Rye showhouses to be completed. Seems to be taking an age. We were also told by a guy working there that phase 2 of the Rye houses has been postponed due to lack of interest. The estate agent mentioned various rumours so I'd certainly take it with a pinch of salt. I'd be a little concerned about the paths along the river being completed also. It looks great in the plans but I asked the estate agent & he didn't seem to know anything about that area. (By the River!) I don't know if anyone has any insight.

Cheers,

billy_beckham

Wouldn't be a bit surprised to hear that demand for the 650k offering has cooled. There has been a price reduction on most of the other varieties. Eg 2 bed 415k to 400k..

Delays looking like they will drag well into the new year unfortunately.

Monstera

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119993957#Comment_119993957

Yeah we were interested in the Rye based on the promotional material. But when we saw the CGI walk through we were put off. The much promoted balconies at the back will look over a ? Public walk way rather than the river directly. And compared to houses in Naas the price doesn’t seem right relatively.

LighterThanAir

Anyone here already living or about to move and have creche/daycare aged children? We're considering River Walk but as far as we've seen there are no creches around (walking distance).

billy_beckham

2 childcare facilities as far as I know, 1 in the school across the road, Helping Hands I think it's called, another beside the Catholic Church, Ballymore Playschool?

Illywhacker

Primary school has a service called helping hands which runs a play school/ECCE and Afterschool service.

Resource centre by the church runs ECCE /play school.

For full daycare you’d need to look at Naas, blessington etc. or a childminder.

That might change as the population increases with the 2 new developments in the village.

Ballymoo123

Hi

Myself and my partner are really interested in the Riverwalk development. Does anyone know if there are many 3/4 beds left and know what the internet is like in the area?

DubSP

Hi Everyone

Me and my Partner are torn between the 3 Bed in Riverwalk or the other Development in Ballymore. Has anyone move in already and can give advice on the commute times to D2 and how the Village life is like?

Thanks in advance :)

Illywhacker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120100351#Comment_120100351

You’re very welcome to PM me. I know the area and am currently living nearby.

Procent

Hello,

Wondering if anyone who's moved in already has any feedback so far? We are in Phase 2 and any tips to look out for are appreciated!

@Blackbird2022 Did you ever get clarification on A2 vs A3? I see some of the websites have now been update to say A3.

Thanks a lot!

Blackbird2022

Hey @Procent,

As far as I'm aware only two houses have moved in so far. Its looking like April or May for most of phase one, but unfortunately nobody is getting much information on dates. Have you got any indication of dates for your property?

I did receive the final BER certificate for the property and it is A3. I also noticed that on daft.ie that the properties all state A3 now even though it was originally A2. I just kind of accepted it without following up on it but apparently it was to do with the orientation of our property.