Affordable housing Dunlaoghaire Rathdown-Parkview, Belarmine & Thornwood

Does anyone else who spoke with the council about BSQ have any clarification on the fees that will be due to be paid. Its starting to sound v expensive!!

Hi all
I've just registered to use the site after coming across your thread. I also received the mail from Sherry Fitz in relation to BSQ and am anxiously awaiting a viewing. Its a pity they haven't been able to send us floor plans yet.
Has anyone considered the whole market value issue? I'm sure most of you don't intend on staying in an apartment for 20 years and so may be hit with the clawback.
I have two friends who both bought identical apartments under affordable housing scheme in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown a year apart (one a year ago and one a few weeks ago) and the same market value went down for both. Surely there is some legal entitlement to get an independent valuer in to assess the accuracy of what Sherry Fitz and DLRCC are calling "market value", especially given the current state of the housing market.
Let me know your thoughts. When it comes to it, we only need one valuation so should consider the matter as a group as it would benefit all?!

I think when you are getting your mortgage you will be getting the place valued anyway - you can just ask for a duplicate of the report? Definitely EBS are insisting on this and it costs something around €130

Great thanks theSte

The chances are that the council might elect to ignore the EBS valuation so as to make sure they get a kick back in the future.

We all need to get on to the Council to advise them that we will not accept out-dated valuations in circumstances where the property market is crashing.

There has been a lot of work done on the issue of valuations by people buying in Fingal. If you take a look at the fingal affordable housing thread you'll see it discussed. Valuations can be adjusted with a bit of a fight if you can prove that they're over-valued. At least if prices fall you will get back what you put in. That's better than buying privately in this climate.

Too true the Fingal crew seem to have done a lot of helpful work. Seems like they are actually getting affordable housing over there.

I spoke to one of the staff in the DLRD Co Co offices about 2 months ago and was told by her that she thought that the BSQ apartments were worth about 750k.

When I spoke to them it was 600K for a BSQ apartment, new ones on Sherry Fitz are around 530K and second hand the lowest for a two bed was 430K. So how can our one be worth 600K if the estate agents are selling them for less than that!

Also another update from DLRCOCO - there was supposed to be a viewing next week but it now looks unlikely since its so close to Christmas -more likely early next year.
Also there are currently 50 people on the list given to Sherry Fitz - still 20 odd apartments for DLRCOCO to try to fill!

theSte said:

When I spoke to them it was 600K for a BSQ apartment, new ones on Sherry Fitz are around 530K and second hand the lowest for a two bed was 430K. So how can our one be worth 600K if the estate agents are selling them for less than that!

Also another update from DLRCOCO - there was supposed to be a viewing next week but it now looks unlikely since its so close to Christmas -more likely early next year.
Also there are currently 50 people on the list given to Sherry Fitz - still 20 odd apartments for DLRCOCO to try to fill!

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Dont suppose they'd knock a few walls and give us 3 bed apartments for the price of a 2 bed?! At least they wouldnt have any empty ones then!!

This would also explain why floors 5 & 6 are progressing slower than the first 4 floors!

I had my meeting with DLRCC on 19th November and they said 2-beds in BSQ had market value of 520k. The second hand cubes for sale don't seem to be going anywhere so we should maybe keep an eye on them for a guideline of mrket value.

Another issue is that if they are pulling their market values from the private apartments being sold the values won't really be a true reflection.
In parkview the affordable and social housing is cut off from the wider development. Private buyers don't want to buy in an 'affordable block' or a 'social housing block'. Where there is social housing the place will be viewed as a council estate, thus the resale value will be a bit less. I doubt the council will take that into consideration, but as a buyer I'm a aware of how people perceive the development. On the parkview section of neighbours.ie they have made the affordable/social thread private - I'd love to know what they're saying that they can't say publiciy!?

Hey I've also been offered a 2 bed in BSQ.... I'm really not sure what to do. they are so expensive and i'd really be pushing myself to afford it. i'm not sure about it. Will it been seen as a dodgy part of the development going forward if the whole block is social and affordable? Any advise would be great.

The apartments in BSQ would be a no-brainer if they were coming in at a properly affordable price (like 220k). The 300k asking price sounds pretty expensive when they are making as low as 430k in the private part of the development. I assume the units in the private part of the development will be worth more than our units.

We will be living in our specific social and affordable corner. The fact that our apartments are above social units will have an adverse effect on our units' market price whether such a bias is fair or not.

The BSQ units at 300k (plus 2.5k per annum service) have lost their gloss in my eyes. I'm pretty high up the list and I reckon i'll sit tight and wait for one of the normal units (non BSQ) to come on stream for b/t 220k -250k. Also Bank of Ireland who previously issued my approval in principal, seem to have moved the goal posts and it may that 300k is now out of my reach.

Thats a good question, and I think we have all to think is it worth it - it really depends.
Are you able to afford it, not just the payment but the yearly maintenance fee (around 2-2.2K) + floors + furniture + bills!
How long will you live there - be realistic! no-one will be there for 20 years?! - The current situation with the clawback means that you should only be concerned if the property market starts climbing - your cash input is protected in a declining market providing it doesn't fall beneath the discount. We still need to persuade the council to revalue the property from their old pricing. I only see myself being in one of these 4-5 years tops.
Is it handy? - Will you be able to get rid of your car, is it handy to where you work - even long term wise this has one of the best public transport options thats runs regularly, if I loose my job chances are you will probably be based in town the next one (or at least handy to M50 and other places by car). This is the handiest location with the nearest access to the key infrastructure routes nearby.
Shops etc, you've shops in the complex, stillorgan, Dundrum + much more on the horizon.
If you are intending to rent a room scheme - again because this is handy to transport options and a safe neighbourhood it should be easy enough to rent out the room. Compare to the apartments across the M50, where the only option is town via the slow 44 or a once a day feeder to the DART.
The future - you should look at the development plan for the estate (the whole industrial estate) -its going to be updated again. The plan has some very ambitious ideas for the area - a complete rejuvenation. The luas station will shift closer, the reservoir will serve as a nighlife area with bars and restaurants. The current plaza being built in front of the estate will also contain shops etc..

And finally - you haven't signed up for the place till you've signed contracts - you should see the show apartment and then think about it, even the 5K deposit is refundable - but really this is only viable if you look at your budget and can you afford it or not - best and worst case scenarios.
Good luck with your decision

I just want to clarify on the resale aspect (I missed that in the post!)
Originally when DLRCOCO were plugging these - it was 3 floors social 3 floors affordable - the last time I checked they went to great lengths to stress its ALL affordable. They've probably figured it out that the people getting the social housing can't afford "management fees" of 2-2.2K!
Now following on from the information I sent earlier - there are a total of 50 people on the list - and this has been from DLRCOCO assessing people to see if they can just about afford it - we are now floors 1-4, no mention of social housing.

I reckon you should have as much chance as anyone else on getting a buyer for a going rate on the apartments - if the location has demand (i.e. the whole complex) and depending on the amount of apartments and their prices up for sale when you are selling. This certainly stands a better chance of selling because of location than other places and its not likely the place will be overrun with scum in a few years either.

Is there anything we as a group or individually can do to encourage DLCCO to revalue the BSQ apartments?

I would imagine we are legally entitled to get an indepepdent valuer in, its something we can all speak to our solicitors about closer to purchase time but yes we should share the info to get a broader view of where we stand on the issue.
I'm having second thoughts about Beacon, its a difficult decision, I'm in Dundrum electoral award so was originally told by DLRCC I'd probably be offered Wyckham Point, which I would consider to be a better development. Now the tricky thing is if I turn down Beacon I may get offered Parkview or somewhere else before Wyckham comes on line, and we all know two strikes and you're out. Can anyone give their opinion on whether they think its worth the risk? I'd rate Beacon over Parkview.

I'm in the Dundrum ward too, quite low on the list (well, I don't know how long it is....I'm below 40). I'd much prefer Dundrum to Sandyford. I was told that there is nothing coming up for Dundrum yet at all. Isn't it also possible though that Wyckham will be more expensive again as nearer the city?

Yeh its weird they were very positive about Wyckham back in April when the draw took place and someone in DLRCC told my friend there would be 37 units there. But when I asked them about it a few weeks ago at my meeting they were not very forthcoming with info. Think it may have had something to do with them pushing Beacon though. Like what was said earlier they seem keen to get them sold! I'd imagine Dundrum would be 300k too, any more than that and really wouldn't be affordable for people, but they would probably have a higher market value. I'm 12 I think on Dundrum list there's definitely been no movement on it.