Drumnigh Manor, Portmarnock

Hi Mayne,

I am in WhatsApp group with other future owners in DM, some people only started receiving their snagging letter only yesterday, they were waiting too and were previously told end of March, I would say yours might be on its way too. The group is very helpful, perhaps you should join too.

Cathy

Current phase is sold out. Our house is due in Sept this year, someone upgraded to a 4 bedroom and we got very lucky otherwise we would have had to wait until next year. They have just launched the next phase now, and those houses are going quickly. The 3 bedroom in the new phase is bigger than what we will have in Sept, the difference seems to be with a bigger kitchen like in the 4 bedroom house. Feel free to message me privately, and will share more info.

Cathy

Hi all. By means of passing on a few points based on a recent experience and observations it might be worth noting the following:

As hinted at on here by a few folks several weeks back the manner in which some prospective buyers have been treated has been exceptionally poor with very questionable communication, what could be perceived as incivil behaviour from those dealing with customers, and a complete disregard for the basic standards expected from those in the business. The lack of clarity around house form, design, and finish directly impacted on some folks decision to move forward with purchases. Similarly, how potential customers felt they were being treated directly impacted their decisions to go ahead in the process - rather than the actual price of the units themselves.

Despite the obvious national trend in house prices and other drivers affecting house building of late, the complete absence of transparency around what your final (bought and paid for) house would look like, coupled with vague and non-committal answers when challenged on same, led some potential buyers to have no confidence in the process or product on offer. House buying is never expected to be easy, however, nobody should expect to be misled, misinformed, and then threatened when seeking simple clarity on a product that they have made commitments to buy. It is no surprise that anyone who experienced this could not commit to engaging in the process any further - how anyone could have confidence that the end product would be as promised and committed to is beyond comprehension to many no doubt.

There were questions raised about the amount of final brick coverage before - it is clear to some potential buyers that they were not informed of this. What appears to be clear is that this had always been the plan based on planning documents submitted years back - why this wasn't just communicated openly and honestly with eager customers is difficult to understand. The same can be said too for the front facade / elevation - changes that were known about for some considerable time before could have (and should have) been clearly communicated to anyone intending to buy. Was this detail held back to protect the large price increases for subsequent phases? Will this trend continue for subsequent phases? Can anyone have confidence that what they are told is actually accurate enough to trust the process and make an informed decision and lifelong financial commitment?

While the Drumnigh house has many excellent qualities it is also reasonable to consider the following when considering a purchase:

• 1) The estate is a considerable distance outside of Portmarnock itself. The walk to the train station is a considerable addition to any city commute and should be factored in for those not working from home. The potential restoration and recommissioning of a pedestrian bridge across the railway may fall to either current builders to take on (if anyone does at all - with raw product costs the way they are...) - based on current experiences it might be reasonable to worry that this will ever happen at all.
• 2) The noise pollution from incoming aircraft from Dublin aircraft is not insignificant and it is intrusive. Nobody can question the noise insulation quality of the houses (it is excellent), however, nobody anticipates living indoors 24hrs a day. Modern houses get pretty warm in summer time and windows and doors will be left open by many. Outside playtime, walks, BBQs and other hostings will suffer for this noise intrusion. Some may be content with it buy it is very loud by most accounts and interrupts basic conversational exchanges when outside. Dublin Airport is only getting busier as many know so this intrusion is unfortunately frequent.
• 3) The future planning and allocation of adjacent lands is not clear and doesn't inspire. It is reasonable to worry about a concrete mass of high rise accommodation with the current housing challenges - the view south west from the estate towards the many apartment complexes there already may give some insight into this. How the area will cope without additional schools or shops etc is worrying no doubt.
• 4) With no schools within easy walking distance and a narrow winding road into Portmarnock that is not safe enough for kids cycling, the true challenges with living at this location right on the boundary with housing-dense Balgriffin and its busy roads with constant traffic are important to consider for any young family.

Of course, there are many happy and content at this location.

The above is merely an opinion based on a lived experience and posted here to share honestly to anyone interested.

nsa, do you live in Drumingh or have you stayed there as a guest? From your post, I am guessing that it's one or the other. Is the quality of the houses good? Are they well-made? Are there a lot of green spaces for children?

We are buying in Phase 2 and although I prefer the look of the brickwork facade, I am over it. I will be moving into a large house with my young family and I can't wait.

I already live nearby and the noise from the airplanes doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Re schools within walking distance - there are 4 - Belmayne ET, St Francis, Stapolin ET and the new Gaelscoil. Our children attend Belmayne ET and it is a fantastic school. 10 minute cycle/scoot from Drumnigh.

If you look south just over the Moyne Road you'll get a very good idea of what will end up in the field.

The fields adjacent to DM are zoned Greenbelt. Looking at FCC’s draft plan for 2023 - 2029 there is no change.

So while there is no guarantee that in the future it won’t be rezoned at least at the moment they are somewhat protected from development and are still actively farmed. But there is only so much you can control in life.

True but just suggesting that where estates end there may not necessarily be a huge apartment block from another estate plonked in front of it. IMO they will keep some sort of separation between the various areas

Hi all,

My wife and I are analysing to buy a house in Drumnigh Manor, and we would like to know how good the soundproofing of the houses is. I read a couple of good comments about the soundproofing of planes landing and taking off, but I couldn't find anything regarding the soundproofing between houses. Where we live nowadays, the walls are so thin that we can hear almost everything that our next door neighbour does.

All comments are going to be much appreciated :)

Thank you in advance!

Kind regards,

Matias.

Query for DM home owners, how do you find the tap water in the area? Are there filters installed to prevent limescale issues as this is a hard water area? We are worried about the hard water.

We are considering buying and would like a Kooker instant boil tap but are worried this would be ruined by hard water and be expensive to maintain. Any insights would be greatly appreciated 🙏

Sure - Fire me a PM with your number and I'll add you in!

You'd really need to be driving. It would be a good 30+ minutes walk each way with no footpath on most of Chapel road. Footpath on Drumnigh road also switches from one side to the other at station road and not the safest place to cross.

Anyone looking to join the WhatsApp group for new owners, can you please PM me with your mobile number? I don't check this thread too often and I need your mobile before I can add you, so PM is the best way. Cheers.

As far as I am aware row 104-113 "might" be issued letters by the end of June but are experiencing delays with Irish Water. We are row 114-124 and were told September for snagging. This date to my knowledge hasn't changed, but with projects like this anything is possible. We did manage to have a look in our house and its already tiled and they have started to install the heating system. So I would say that if we get delays it will be due to utility connections.

I do know the previous phases were significantly impacted with the lock-downs etc for handover dates.

Virgin Media is pre-cabled and I believe fiber so you can use Eir or any of the resellers like Sky or Vodafone. Most people started off with Virgin but moved to Vodafone or Eir as they were doing much better deals. No major complaints.

It looks like a few folks in the new phase have moved into the houses that run along the perimeter of the site, the houses opposite them are nearly done too, landscaping etc.

Hi - has anyone received a date for snagging recently? We signed contract last September and were originally told this September for completion (not very certain in fairness). The latest I head a couple of weeks back was the end of Nov.