St.Joseph’s Clonsilla

sob1467 wrote: »

Probably not the right thread for it but for the cheapest 3 bed (€325,000) with the current central back mortgage rules you'd need a €84,000 salary assuming a 10% deposit.

Or a couple on €42,000 each. Not that unrealistic for young professionals, anyone with a (useful) college degree, public sector employees or a few years experience in a skilled trade. Very few single people buying on their own would be interested in a 3-bed semi. Also from my experience working in finance, a lot of couples (especially those with decent careers) have more than 10% deposit saved by the time of drawdown. If you're saving €X/month for a deposit, then even 1 month after your deposit is saved you have more than the required 10%. So the above example may not even need 3.5 times combined salary to afford this house.

Bargain_Hound wrote: »

We had a similar issue in a Glenveagh new build estate 2 years ago with social housing being bought in huge clusters. We've since moved!

We will be selling up the end of this year/early next year ourselves (not because of the social housing issue) - to be fair the majority of the tenants in that area of the estate are grand just a couple of undesirables that ruin it for the rest, I wouldn't buy a tree house off Alanna developers or New line homes whatever they call themselves these days. To think 2 years on (we bought in the final phase) they still haven't finished the estate is the clincher, I wont miss being woken up 6 days a week to construction noise outside.

ongarboy wrote: »

Sorry to hear you had bad experiences. I guess that's an interesting caution about buying in new estates or particularly, new strategic development zones where construction can go on for years like Hansfield, Adamstown, Clongriffin etc. It possibly explains why properties in established neighborhoods can command higher prices sometimes, even if the homes need expensive modernization.

Cheers Ongarboy! Its grand, in fairness it was a gamble and we went into it knowing the area would be eventually be built up but between ongoing issues with the developers disengaging with the estate and leaving it unfinished from the date the last phase got the keys, to living in a building site for over 2 years and the joys that come with all that, we have reached our limit. The developers are the slowest team I've ever met, if they say something will take 12 months to build it will take minimum 24. I would say theres a good 5 years of build activity here then they will move over the rail line onto the next SDZ.

All the new builds currently up here in the area (bar Barnwell park / St Josephs) are BTR (Build to rent) so we pretty much have an idea of the demo renter who will inhabit most / all of these units when they are finished based on whats happening here. Essentially they are pushing way higher amounts of social housing into the area above the SDZ targets through the back door.

As we know its govt led and a byproduct of the way the govt has allowed developers essentially replacing the state in providing the majority of social housing.

I would tell everyone buying in a new build estate, check check and triple check what portion are being sold to private individuals and if there are any hints of them selling to cuckoo funds run while you can unless you are content to live in a privatized council estate, for example rent up here is over 2200 in the IRES section with people paying 50€ a week. I can confidently say less than 10% of tenants up here are paying the headline rents IRES charge and can only assume the remaining 750 apts to be completed will go that way.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2018/0809/983942-housing-social-tenancies/.

Anyways seems to be the new norm now with new large build estates which definitely makes sense why older ones are commanding high prices.

I booked a house of type Sapphire in Phase 2. I am not sure if this is the right thread to connect with others who have booked in this development. Please give a shout if anyone else in the same boat wants to discuss.

Thanks! They have given tentative timeline of Quarter 1 2021.

Hollybeg wrote: »

They have already signaled as much -

If Glenveagh could sell all their properties for social housing they would. They have no shame. What they did up at Hollystown Golf Course was nothing short of scandalous (closure before planning was secured) and then went ahead and destroyed man made lakes on the grounds of the course. Buyer beware and all that.

Are there any similar Castlethorn stories as well, which buyers should be aware about? Overall I heard good reviews before booking in St. Joseph's, but it might be the case I was talking to a very small set of people.

Pink11 wrote: »

Hi very interested in this development but concerned about future phasing causing a large social housing ratio. Did anyone try asking? Presume they can just lie and we’d find out the hard way?
After putting my life savings into a property, I expect a safe, private estate (no offence meant, just want to live with like minded)

I asked the EA on this and the reply was in Phase 2 out of 26 houses which went on sale very few remain and all purchases were by individual buyers.

No one can predict on future phases though.

Luluk wrote: »

There is a Pearl show house to view; I viewed it a few weeks ago. Might need an appointment to view it now because of covid. Not sure about the Jade. I opted for the Pearl due to the lack of a hall in the Jade. Price difference isn't huge really.

Hey Luluk, I'm looking into the Pearl and hoping to get in on the third phase. It's a great home and fits our budget perfectly but our only concern is having the kitchen in the front.

My question is, how big or spacious did the kitchen feel? Would love to get some insights seeing as we haven't gotten a date for viewing yet.

We weren't expecting the kitchen to be big or huge either, as long as it's big enough to fit a small table for four.

Looks like the plan will be fitting a dining table in the large living area. Thanks for the insights!

bassrani wrote: »

I asked the EA on this and the reply was in Phase 2 out of 26 houses which went on sale very few remain and all purchases were by individual buyers.

No one can predict on future phases though.

Thanks for this! I since spoke to them again and they confirmed that it's a requirement for 10% of all devs to hold for social housing!?

Is anyone living here currently who can give an updated insight into traffic and location etc? V hard to gauge due to the pandemic I know but very interested.

ongarboy wrote: »

Clonsilla station just down from here will have level crossing shut every few minutes during morning and evening rush hour due to peak train services so this leads to congestion as car queuing forms. Outside of those windows, traffic is fine. If you plan to access M3/N3 motorway during morning rush hour, queues can form as far back as Ongar depending on how bad or busy a morning it is. The motorway itself can be congested as far back as Clonee depending but generally, it moves barring an accident. The main Ongar distributor road can be busy as well. If you leave before 8am, it's fine, anytime after, it becomes congested.


The 39 bus that passes this development goes all around Blanch SC, village, Clonsilla and Hartstown and is very slow. 39x is an express bus that does go into town much quicker via a more direct route with minimal stops but you'd have to walk 10 minutes to the nearest bus stop that services that route by Allendale. Train is really the only efficient option (25 minutes to Connolly if your work is in city centre) which is only 7 minutes walk from you.

Obviously in COVID era, everything is much quieter as so many WFH.

The rare time I drove into town for work, it takes 90 minutes at most during peak and 30 off peak.

Agree with all of that. But i will just highlight how crap the bus routes are. In the past its taken me over an hour to get from Latchford to the Blanch centre on a 39a. Morning rush hour granted. The route goes all over hartstown and much of it has no bus lane. I have walked it quicker. The 39 isnt much better

I have also had it take over 2.5 hours all the way to UCD on the 39a. Spare yourself the pain and, as ongarboy says, use the train.

ongarboy wrote: »

I see they're putting in traffic calming/pedestrian crossing on the road outside St Joseph's entrance. No harm for increased pedestrian activity that will be generated. They've just finished the footpath/ cycle lane along the entire perimeter of the new development too. It looks well. However I really hope the council look to continue the footpath for the 100 meters or so up to Allendale Square at one end and to the canal/train station at the other end to make it continuous and much safer to walk to Clonsilla train station without pedestrians (from Ongar/Allendale and St Joseph's) having to cross the road back and forth multiple times (as I've been doing for 15 years....lol!!)

Agree with you on that. Much needed.

Facebook group pages seem to be the way to go. Ongar has a couple as does Hansfield, Little Pace etc. I've gleaned a lot of useful info from the Ongar page.

As St Joseph's is so new, you might need to be the one to create it! :-)

I've seen a very active sub forum in Boards Accommodation forum for Royal Canal Park in Ashtown that discusses everything from snag lists, to grievances with developers to general neighborhood queries so a forum there might help too.