Moving to Bettystown

Kennethkenneth · 06-06-2013 11:24am #1

Hi,
My wife and I are moving to Bettystown/Laytown and we were wondering what the good areas/bad areas are. We were thinking of renting an apartment in Neptune Tower. It's got a great view but does anyone know what the area is like?
Thanks!

dyziool · 28-02-2014 12:01am

Hi, did you find out anything about the Bettystown? We are in the same situation, but not much online about the place. Looks great, but is it safe, is it good for families, how is the traffic, shopping etc....no idea, but if you hear anything please share. I almost forgot the most important part INTERNET, is there any decent broadband in Bettystown??

caew · 28-02-2014 10:41am

dyziool wrote: »

Hi, did you find out anything about the Bettystown? We are in the same situation, but not much online about the place. Looks great, but is it safe, is it good for families, how is the traffic, shopping etc....no idea, but if you hear anything please share. I almost forgot the most important part INTERNET, is there any decent broadband in Bettystown??

we were thinking of buying in Bettystown and have been renting there for the past six months, we have now decided not to buy there.

For us the commute is too much, I work in Dublin city centre.

However, Bettystown is a lovely area, its got some nice restaurants, convenient shops, the beach is wonderful to have on your door step, people are friendly and I have heard the schools are good.

We have probably looked at most of the houses in the area at this stage. I think a lot of them are overpriced for the area. However, we liked Sevitt Hall, nice houses and estate. The Cloisters is nice too. The Golf Links Road is nice area. The areas we didn't like were Northlands and Castlemartin.

Contact Stephen in Keystone property in Bettystown. Out of all the auctioneers we dealt with he was by far the most professional. He was the only one to turn up on time and had the house ready for vewing, he took time to ask what we are looking for, could answer all our questions and recommended other properties.

Kennethkenneth · 05-03-2014 5:06pm

Hi there,

I can't believe someone finally responded to my post!

We did end up moving to Bettystown though not to Neptune Tower as it's beside the Anchorage which is a bit rough.

We like the area. We're renting but we will definitely not be buying there. Bettystown/Laytown is massively overdeveloped and I reckon anyone who buys a house there will never sell it.

Anyhow, on to your questions...

Safety: I've never seen any hassle going on and as far as I can make out it's a quiet area. It can get a bit 'lively' down around Funtasia and the beach during the summer so I'd keep away from that area. There have been a lot of rough looking Dubs who have moved down here. I've heard stories about drug dealing but I have to admit I've never seen anything. Then again, I wouldn't see anything, would I? I don't have kids but I wouldn't like to be raising them in Bettystown.

Traffic: There are no traffic problems in Bettystown really. Drogheda can get a bit jammed around 5-6ish but nothing major, don't know what it's like in the mornings. You should be aware that Matthews Coaches advertise a bus that takes one hour to get into Dublin, however, it usually takes about one hour and twenty minutes in the morning. So watch out for that.

Shopping: There's lots of shops in Drogheda and nice restaurants. Not much going on in Bettystown. There's Relish but I reckon it's overrated. If you're going out for dinner, try The Tower in Drogheda. It's really nice. Drogheda was a nice surprise for us. It's a lovely town and only a ten minute drive away from Bettystown.

Internet: Can't give you much help there. We get our Broadband from Sky. It's pretty good but we don't use it that much. I don't know what it would be like if you were downloading HD movies or using it for work. It might be great, it might not be great.

Hope that helps.

padjo5 · 05-03-2014 6:01pm

Like anywhere it has positives and negatives!

There was a lot of misguided development in the village, which is now a bit run down, and home to some 'undesirables'.

Apart from this it is a pretty pleasant place to live. Depends on what you are into but between the locality and Drogheda you have almost everything you need. Bettystown itself has numerous school options, activities etc. the beach is a beauty, which can mean big crowds on a warm summers day. Broadband is good, and Vodafone are bringing in the super fast broadband in the coming weeks apparently. Current speeds are ample for netflix etc. it's not as backward as it may seem!

Anything else you like to know?

P

coolemon · 05-03-2014 8:08pm

Lived in Laytown for 7 years. From Dublin originally but now back in Dublin.

I didn't like it one bit. The beach is a novelty and the attraction of it soon wears off, or at least it did for me. Upon moving there you get the sort of holiday village to the place with Funtasia and the mobile home park.

I don't know what your budget is but you could get a 2-3 bed house within the M50 for the price of a 3-4 bed in Laytown/Bettystown. Houses in Dublin will maintain their value if not increase in the long term. Areas that were seen as rough will improve medium term, such as Crumlin and Drimnagh. Development land is limited in Dublin.

Bettystown/Laytown however is a different kettle of fish. If there were to be an increase in demand new land will be zoned for development, thus the property will never appreciate in value. For example a 109 acre site on the other side of the tracks at Laytown (to the rear of Inse Bay) was sold last year. It is zoned for residential and has planning permission for a new housing estate with probably hundreds of new houses to be built.

Long term, get a house needing a bit of TLC in Drimnagh/Crumlin/Ballyfermot for your budget. Buying in these commuter towns I don't think is sensible when there is the option of buying something similar in the city.

Cons

- car dependent. (used to get shopping in TESCO Drogheda as the one in Bettystown was quite limited)
- Fuel prices going one way only. Commuting will cost a small fortune.
- commuting time (about 45min - hour now?)
- Very homogeneous demographic in these areas. Irish couples with young kids. Lacking a social mix. Lots of fighting over kids.
- No jobs.
- Future ghetto with all the kids and nothing for them to do.
- Home value depreciation or stable in price. Your options to move if you don't like it will be limited.

Pro's

- New and spacious housing units at an affordable price.
- Beach/Sea.
- Decent amount of small shops in Bettystown/Laytown.
- New school in the area.
- Drogheda is close enough with various shopping outlets. (20-25 minute drive)

dyziool · 05-03-2014 8:39pm

Thanks for the info guys, a lot to think about I guess.

mesu · 07-04-2014 1:02pm

Hi, am also thinking of moving to bettystown with my family. Caew I think your account is closed but why didn't you like castlemartin? Am curious as the houses look decent. Coolemon when you say there is lots of fighting over kids, do you mean you've witnessed lots of domestic problems there? Another poster said they wouldn't want to raise children there, why not? Thanks and sorry for coming in late on the thread!

MANUTD99 · 23-07-2014 8:06pm

Hi There

Whats the general feeling on Brabazon Links. Is it a nice area? Safe?

Millem · 23-07-2014 9:30pm

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Hi There

Whats the general feeling on Brabazon Links. Is it a nice area? Safe?

I don't know much about the estate, but it is on the golf links road which is one of the nicest road. I don't like the design of the houses but that is a personal thing. Bettystown has changed so so so much over the last 10-15 years. The only place that I heard was "unsafe" was the anchorage which is ages away! I have never seen anything dodgey there myself but I would only be parking there to go to donovans. If I was moving to bettystown I would try and avoid an estate, like a previous poster said LOTS of fighting over kids! Or else pick an old estate eg Brookside as residents are much older! There is another estate on the golf links road called fairways park which is lovely too.

kennyb3 · 24-07-2014 11:09am

Amazing the way 2 posters rented in a place (can be any town), then decide not to buy there. Huge lesson to be learnt there - rent where you think you want to buy. A years rent spent is better than a couple of hundred grand+ buying.

padjo5 · 24-07-2014 11:17am

You looking to buy or rent in Brabazon?
There's bungalows/duplex apts/semi-d houses so depends which yer after?

MANUTD99 · 24-07-2014 12:10pm

padjo5 wrote: »

You looking to buy or rent in Brabazon?
There's bungalows/duplex apts/semi-d houses so depends which yer after?

we are looking at the semi detached and terraced housing

thanks

PBPumpkin · 24-07-2014 3:18pm

Why is it a bad place to bring up kids as opposed to anywhere else?

Are there specific issues in the Laytown/Bettystown area?

Millem · 24-07-2014 7:18pm

PBPumpkin wrote: »

Why is it a bad place to bring up kids as opposed to anywhere else?

Are there specific issues in the Laytown/Bettystown area?

What I call "new" estates in the area are filled with families with young children. The parents end up falling out over the kids. It's not like in dublin where you say hello and goodbye to your neighbours and that's the height of it! During the boom a lot of people from dublin moved down and tbh a lot of them moved back, it wasn't for them. Bus service to drogheda is a rip off and was very badly serviced but I think it has improved of recent times. I would consider drogheda town a lot rougher. Beach park and highfield in laytown are lovely estates.

PBPumpkin · 25-07-2014 11:32am

Sounds like you may be talking about Inse Bay ........

What is your view on Sevitt Hall and Betaghstown Wood?

padjo5 · 25-07-2014 12:14pm

Millem wrote: »

What I call "new" estates in the area are filled with families with young children. The parents end up falling out over the kids. It's not like in dublin where you say hello and goodbye to your neighbours and that's the height of it!

To be fair the above happens in every village/town/city in the world! To say it doesnt happen in Dublin, or anywhere else, is simply untrue.

Millem · 25-07-2014 1:27pm

padjo5 wrote: »

Millem wrote: »

What I call "new" estates in the area are filled with families with young children. The parents end up falling out over the kids. It's not like in dublin where you say hello and goodbye to your neighbours and that's the height of it!

To be fair the above happens in every village/town/city in the world! To say it doesnt happen in Dublin, or anywhere else, is simply untrue.

It's from my experience, I was agreeing with previous poster who said that one of the cons about living there was parents falling out over kids.

Millem · 25-07-2014 2:51pm

PBPumpkin wrote: »

Sounds like you may be talking about Inse Bay ........

What is your view on Sevitt Hall and Betaghstown Wood?

I don't know really know much about sevitt hall. I remember when betaghstown wood was first built a lot of people from dublin bought there. It is a bit far out, you would have to have a car, there are too many houses down there for my liking. If I was buying in bettystown I would want to be near (within walking distance) matthews bus, train station, tesco and the beach. If a house comes up in Brookside or Neptune terrace you should view it! Did you consider mornington? My OH actually prefers it as it is quieter and not as populated. If so there is a 4 bed detached in st nicholas village for €225k. It is at the end of golf links road. It is an old estate where you will have a mix of people.

sanny82 · 26-08-2014 12:38pm

apart from all the concerns about safety / great area......we thought with eastham court we made the right decision. We went sales agreed and now struggle to find a house insurance as a good few won't give us a quote as the house is in a flood risk area. I am a bit shocked and worried now even the estate is not directly on the beach.....has there ever been bad floods reaching that estate?

Paulw · 26-08-2014 12:45pm

sanny82 wrote: »

I am a bit shocked and worried now even the estate is not directly on the beach.....has there ever been bad floods reaching that estate?

It's not the sea that is causing the flooding, but more likely poor drainage in the area not taking the rain water away. You're not above sea level, so the rain water has nowhere to drain to.

PBPumpkin · 26-08-2014 1:09pm

I believe there was flooding in Northlands a couple of years ago caused by the Mornington River (stream) Is Eastham Court near there?

padjo5 · 26-08-2014 4:04pm

A lot of that area was built on a flood plain. I'd ask a few of the neighbours what their experience has been with getting HI.

kheed · 31-08-2014 10:04pm

I bought a house in Inse Bay about seven months ago. I am from dublin and ideally would have bought there but our limited budget and the rising prices in Dublin left us limited options. We found a house that was within our budget and we are delighted with it. Here are my thoughts of the area so far, it's just my wife and I, we have no kids.

Pros:
The beach, sea views from our house, walks in the evening with the dog! I know the novelty may wear off but I have always wanted to live close to the sea so its a big thing for me, may not be important to others.
Our neighbours are great, very friendly, but not overly so! Anyone I have met in passing in the estate and around the area have been very friendly.
The estate is quiet, plenty of children about but I've seen no hassle.
The estate is well maintained, residents association keep it clean and tidy.
Quite close to retail park in drogheda (harvey norman/tk maxx/ LIDl Aldi etc)
Some nice pubs. Gilnas in laytown and Morans in Mornington.
decent chinese takeaways in bettystown and takeaways from drogheda will deliver.
Decent enough Gym in bettystown, I checked it out, haven't joined yet but when funds allow I intend to use it. Will keep running on the beach while weather allows.
Decent Tesco in bettystown and great butcher and hardware beside it.
Decent choice for services like bins/gas/electricity so you can shop around for value.

Cons:
Can be very quiet, re Pubs/restaurants/nightlife but a trip to drogheda is not a lot in a taxi. Suits us, but I do miss the Dublin gigs/restaurants sometimes

The Commute. No getting away from it. Its a bitch. I drive to work in sandyford and it takes 50 minutes when not in rush hour which is not too bad. Getting to city centre in the mornings though takes a good hour and a half + , My wife has tried the trains and matthews bus. Train is nicer, but Much more expensive (unless you get taxsaver year ticket) The Matthews bus takes Leap card and gets you to parnell st in about 70 minutes. Less with no traffic. a big problem is frequency, if you miss one you can be very very late for work. The cost of commute in time and money is the biggest drawback for us for sure. I had to invest in a new diesel car as the petrol was being guzzled!

Cats: Inse bay is full of cats, which keep ****ting in my garden and couple times I caught one coming in to my house. (if you like cats, this may be a pro rather than a con) little feckers!:D

Mobile phone signal can be a bit dodgy. We are on O2 and it can be intermittant at home.

UPC do not provide internet or digital tv in the area. I hate sky TV and their broadband is awful. I opted for Eircom broadband and have found it great (such a relief) I decided to get my tv service from eircom too (eVision) as part of a bundle, its cheap but pretty poor. I use the net more than watch tv so Im not too bothered. The wife is having some TV channel withdrawls though. I reckon the best option would be eircom for broadband and Sky for TV, I just wont give sky my money. But thats another thread...

Hope this is of some help, like I said we have no children so I cannot comment on the schools etc but they do have a good reputation. If there is anything else you want to ask me fire away!

Bradz213 · 01-09-2014 11:47am

kheed wrote: »

I bought a house in Inse Bay about seven months ago. I am from dublin and ideally would have bought there but our limited budget and the rising prices in Dublin left us limited options. We found a house that was within our budget and we are delighted with it. Here are my thoughts of the area so far, it's just my wife and I, we have no kids.

Pros:
The beach, sea views from our house, walks in the evening with the dog! I know the novelty may wear off but I have always wanted to live close to the sea so its a big thing for me, may not be important to others.
Our neighbours are great, very friendly, but not overly so! Anyone I have met in passing in the estate and around the area have been very friendly.
The estate is quiet, plenty of children about but I've seen no hassle.
The estate is well maintained, residents association keep it clean and tidy.
Quite close to retail park in drogheda (harvey norman/tk maxx/ LIDl Aldi etc)
Some nice pubs. Gilnas in laytown and Morans in Mornington.
decent chinese takeaways in bettystown and takeaways from drogheda will deliver.
Decent enough Gym in bettystown, I checked it out, haven't joined yet but when funds allow I intend to use it. Will keep running on the beach while weather allows.
Decent Tesco in bettystown and great butcher and hardware beside it.
Decent choice for services like bins/gas/electricity so you can shop around for value.

Cons:
Can be very quiet, re Pubs/restaurants/nightlife but a trip to drogheda is not a lot in a taxi. Suits us, but I do miss the Dublin gigs/restaurants sometimes

The Commute. No getting away from it. Its a bitch. I drive to work in sandyford and it takes 50 minutes when not in rush hour which is not too bad. Getting to city centre in the mornings though takes a good hour and a half + , My wife has tried the trains and matthews bus. Train is nicer, but Much more expensive (unless you get taxsaver year ticket) The Matthews bus takes Leap card and gets you to parnell st in about 70 minutes. Less with no traffic. a big problem is frequency, if you miss one you can be very very late for work. The cost of commute in time and money is the biggest drawback for us for sure. I had to invest in a new diesel car as the petrol was being guzzled!

Cats: Inse bay is full of cats, which keep ****ting in my garden and couple times I caught one coming in to my house. (if you like cats, this may be a pro rather than a con) little feckers!:D

Mobile phone signal can be a bit dodgy. We are on O2 and it can be intermittant at home.

UPC do not provide internet or digital tv in the area. I hate sky TV and their broadband is awful. I opted for Eircom broadband and have found it great (such a relief) I decided to get my tv service from eircom too (eVision) as part of a bundle, its cheap but pretty poor. I use the net more than watch tv so Im not too bothered. The wife is having some TV channel withdrawls though. I reckon the best option would be eircom for broadband and Sky for TV, I just wont give sky my money. But thats another thread...

Hope this is of some help, like I said we have no children so I cannot comment on the schools etc but they do have a good reputation. If there is anything else you want to ask me fire away!

What sort of download speeds would you be getting from Eircom if you don't mind me asking?

PBPumpkin · 01-09-2014 12:00pm

Anyone have any insight on the primary schools in the area?

kheed · 01-09-2014 12:48pm

My package offer 50 mb speed. Using the wifi the online tests are showing about 35. If I was to plug directly in to the modem that result would probably go up. I stream tv with no hassle and download speeds for music / movies I have found to be pretty decent. If you are gaming in a serious way or anything, I don't really know much about that

Last Result:
Download Speed: 35013 kbps (4376.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 14801 kbps (1850.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 9 ms
Jitter: 2 ms
1/9/2014 12:44:05

Bradz213 · 01-09-2014 1:31pm

That's quite good actually. I'm thinking of moving up around that way but broadband was my main concern. I would use some online gaming but 35MB/s would be enough. I take it thats a fibre powered line then?

kheed · 01-09-2014 1:34pm

yes I think it is, and over the last few weeks Eircom have been putting flyers in the door offereing 100mb speeds so I reckon you will be covered. Before moving here I got in touch with suppliers and asked what services they provide, if you give them an address they can tell you what they do. I knew before moving that UPC wasn't an option. you can even do it online, just pretend to be signing up and pop in an address in the area and the available options will be given

Bradz213 · 01-09-2014 1:39pm

Thats perfect thanks. Have UPC in Dublin at the minute which is great so was just trying to figure whats the best. I think Eircom will be the way to go. Sky is quite expensive for what you get and I don't trust Vodafone

Bradz213 · 10-09-2014 11:36am

kheed wrote: »

yes I think it is, and over the last few weeks Eircom have been putting flyers in the door offereing 100mb speeds so I reckon you will be covered. Before moving here I got in touch with suppliers and asked what services they provide, if you give them an address they can tell you what they do. I knew before moving that UPC wasn't an option. you can even do it online, just pretend to be signing up and pop in an address in the area and the available options will be given

We will actually be moving to Inse Bay in about a month. I rang Eircom and they are only offering the standard broadband now. They said we will probably only get 10MB. A bit gutted now.

Anybody know what the best value waste provider is? Tag a Bin seems the best but the prices for waste are ridiculous compared to Dublin. We pay €10p/m at the minute and it's looking like we will end up paying closer to €25p/m now

MANUTD99 · 10-09-2014 6:14pm

Anybody know who the management company for Eastham Court is and what the fees are?

Is there a contact number that anybody can point me in direction of.

kheed · 14-09-2014 12:56pm

I definitely have 50mb broadband with eircom in Inse Bay, I can't understand why they would tell you that. I have had no hassle with their broadband either. Their tv service is pretty cack though.

As far as waste management goes I rang all the companies and Tag a bin is the cheapest. If you are light on waste and plan to compost garden grass then individual tags might be the cheapest option if you just put one bin out a month. I pay a flat rate of €26.50 per month for weekly general waste collection and forthrightly green and brown bin collection. It is a really frustrating system here, there are 4 companies collecting different bins on different days at different times. So wasteful. If all the residents got together and decided collectively to go with one company they might be able to agree a cheaper price. I don't know.

Bradz213 wrote: »

We will actually be moving to Inse Bay in about a month. I rang Eircom and they are only offering the standard broadband now. They said we will probably only get 10MB. A bit gutted now.

Anybody know what the best value waste provider is? Tag a Bin seems the best but the prices for waste are ridiculous compared to Dublin. We pay €10p/m at the minute and it's looking like we will end up paying closer to €25p/m now

Bradz213 · 16-09-2014 11:46am

kheed wrote: »

I definitely have 50mb broadband with eircom in Inse Bay, I can't understand why they would tell you that. I have had no hassle with their broadband either. Their tv service is pretty cack though.

As far as waste management goes I rang all the companies and Tag a bin is the cheapest. If you are light on waste and plan to compost garden grass then individual tags might be the cheapest option if you just put one bin out a month. I pay a flat rate of €26.50 per month for weekly general waste collection and forthrightly green and brown bin collection. It is a really frustrating system here, there are 4 companies collecting different bins on different days at different times. So wasteful. If all the residents got together and decided collectively to go with one company they might be able to agree a cheaper price. I don't know.

I ended up going for AES. I chose the smaller 140L bin for general waste and it works out €22.50p/m. I rang Eircom again and they said that the exchange to Inse Bay is live but the individual cabinets are not all live. They said the whole estate is pencilled in for 31 Dec

kheed · 16-09-2014 12:26pm

Bradz213 wrote: »

I ended up going for AES. I chose the smaller 140L bin for general waste and it works out €22.50p/m. I rang Eircom again and they said that the exchange to Inse Bay is live but the individual cabinets are not all live. They said the whole estate is pencilled in for 31 Dec

That's not too long to wait I suppose, but seems a pretty stupid way of doing things, why would certain parts of the estate be hooked up and others not? What road are you moving in to? If that's not too personal a question. I am on the crescent. Must have just gotten lucky with eircom

Bradz213 · 16-09-2014 2:00pm

kheed wrote: »

That's not too long to wait I suppose, but seems a pretty stupid way of doing things, why would certain parts of the estate be hooked up and others not? What road are you moving in to? If that's not too personal a question. I am on the crescent. Must have just gotten lucky with eircom

Strange isn't it? Yeah I'm going to be on the Avenue, which I just looked on the map there is pretty close to where you are. Ah i'll deal with it for now. They said I will get 10MB. If i get that I will manage I suppose. As regards the reason why, I feel I was bluffed a little. I probably should have rang Vodafone to see can they offer fibre seen as the lines are there. It's frustrating because on Eircoms webpage it tells you the house is available for EFibre

kheed · 17-09-2014 9:45pm

sounds so odd. Wouldnt be surprised if you rang again and got a different agent you might get a different answer. their twitter page is quite good for replying to queries too.

Best of luck with your move and I hope you like it when you get here.

horse7 · 20-09-2014 6:42pm

So do you think the cloisters would be ok to live in as regards kids,cavavan parks,drugs ,burleries and so on?

Bradz213 · 30-09-2014 10:37am

The Cloisters is nice as far as I'm aware. I have relatives living in Betaghstown Wood and they love it and have no problems

padjo5 · 30-09-2014 4:37pm

horse7 wrote: »

So do you think the cloisters would be ok to live in as regards kids,cavavan parks,drugs ,burleries and so on?

A lovely estate....As an aside I'm not sure why Bettystown has become associated, in this thread anyway, with drugs/burglaries/issues with kids.....none of these things are a daily issue to residents as far as im aware, certainly no more so than for similar communities within commuter range to the Big Smoke.....

Sassygirl79 · 19-01-2015 4:12pm

Hi, myself and hubby and kids are planning on moving to Bettystown provided we can find the right house. Family of 6. Can anyone recommend the best estate to buy in , schools etc. Is house insurance a big problem for all areas in Bettystown or only some? Any info is greatly appreciated.

alri15 · 27-03-2015 9:21pm

i think the post naming stephen from keystone must be from himself,i dealt with him,had to leave the flat after 2 months broken cooker not fixed heating broke for a week during the snow.never showed any concern just concerned with money.IF he is the best the rest must be really bad

padjo5 · 27-03-2015 9:33pm

Sassygirl79 wrote: »

Hi, myself and hubby and kids are planning on moving to Bettystown provided we can find the right house. Family of 6. Can anyone recommend the best estate to buy in , schools etc. Is house insurance a big problem for all areas in Bettystown or only some? Any info is greatly appreciated.

Certain parts were apparently built on a flood plain (planning legacy!) and can be difficult to get cover with some companies. If find a place of interest it's only a phone call to Ins Co to find out cost/cover.

Not a huge stock of decent houses available (depending on what you are looking for) in the area, lot have been sold/sale agreed in recent months. PM if want specific info on anywhere.

MANUTD99 · 28-03-2015 7:13pm

alri15 wrote: »

i think the post naming stephen from keystone must be from himself,i dealt with him,had to leave the flat after 2 months broken cooker not fixed heating broke for a week during the snow.never showed any concern just concerned with money.IF he is the best the rest must be really bad

His company Keystone Property seem to have a hold on any place for sale in Bettystown/Laytown.

In my opinion very unreliable and the worst of the worst when coming to estate agents. Dealt with him a few times

Thank god the house I bought was with another agency in Bettystown.