# Pyrite House Negative Equity and options



## pyrite (8 Aug 2014)

Hi

Ok this is could be long and rambling, Ill give some background

I bought a house in 2007 in North,Co Dublin. 3 Bed Semi D.  Solely in my name.  Have got married since and this is our family home currently,  We have 3 kids now under 2
1 child 2
Twins 

The house has become very cramped with the new arrivals and we where considering selling up and maybe taking the hit on negative equity and rent for a while or move down the country closer to home.
While looking at what the house would go for I came across a house in our estate that has just had pyrite remediation work carried out.

I always had a worry that the houses would have pyrite when the whole debacle came to light.  I've spoken to people in the estate and the word is that 50% of houses have pyrite low level amber.

I'm trying to find some one who will carry out the core sampling tests for me which I will pay for, this will give me a better idea of what to do next.
If it comes back amber the PRB won't touch it as it's not structurally  impaired.  The other side of this is that no one would purchase it, as bank won't issue a mortgage against it and in fairness who would want to live in a pyrite affected house.

So the house if it was non pyrite I reckon I'd get around 200K for it mortgage outstanding is 245K

Pyrite remediation work ie removing hardcore and all that it entails seems to be around 35-60K but don't have definite figure on that yet.
So that could potentially put me 100K in negative equity if I wanted to move.

Other option is to rent the house out and see what I could get in rent.
Our childcare costs are as you imagine going to be very high as we both work.

My wife also owns a house solely in her name too that is in positive equity and is in the ras scheme 10 year rental with 8 years remaining on it.
She also has a mortgage with a familly member on a holiday home in Cork that is in serious negative equity with no income from it.
Any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated.


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## Brendan Burgess (8 Aug 2014)

Hi pyrite

It's pretty pointless answering the question, until you know whether you have pyrite in it or not.  I suggest getting the tests done, and then we can give you a meaningful answer. 

But just one thing which strikes me as odd. 



> The house has become very cramped with the new arrivals



It's a three bed semi!   If it was a two bed apartment, I could understand that.  You might like more space, but almost everyone does. Why is it cramped?


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## pyrite (1 Oct 2014)

Hi Brendan
Got the perlimary tests back and the just of it is significant pyrite but have to wait for full results

In response to space in house its 900 sq ft so small enough. We where considering extending if possible even to make kitchen slightly bigger..  With 3 kids we can't swing a cat in it

Typing this on a tablet so sorrynfor the short answers


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## pyrite (7 Oct 2014)

We engaged with our local engineer to get core test drilling done on the house, this cost circa of 2k out of our own pocket but we wanted to know one way or the other.  

The results came back at the start of the week and our house had a category C pyrite (High Amber).  I’ve spoken to the pyrite board today and I got an answer "we are not interested unless the house has damage".  
They call it a BCA rating of 2 or higher our house would be 0.  This situation now leaves us in limbo as we can’t sell the house.  We can’t even extend it as it’s now structurally damaged.  If we did extend it, it might emit us from any future change on the pyrite board.

I’m absolutely disgusted with the decision of the pyrite board.  We have high amber which will cause damage down the line, we cannot move house, we cannot extend the house.  

We are left in a situation through no fault of our own, of being stuck in a house now that does not suit our needs and no way of moving on from it.

I’ve just spoke to my engineer and he said that there really is nothing you can do here except pay 25k -30k out of our own pocket to carry out this work or wait for the house to start cracking.  I’m so angry with this situation.
Results from core test on the house are a category C, BCA Test is category 0


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## pyrite (29 Oct 2014)

Can anyone here offer me some advice please would really appreciate it


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## Brendan Burgess (29 Oct 2014)

I know nothing about the pyrite issue,but from what you say, there isn't a lot you can do. 

Is there not a Pyrite Action Group who has experience of this issue who would have a better idea of your options? 

What about your neighbours? Are they also not affected? 

You could rent your house and rent another bigger house. 

Brendan


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