Potential buyers must be "from the Wicklow area or have worked, lived in Wicklow"

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has come across this issue before.

I viewed a new development of apartments in Blessington at the weekend.

I am interested in buying but unfortunately I've come up against the stipulation that the potential buyers must be "from the Wicklow area or have worked, lived in Wicklow for the last 12 months" (I knew this applied to buying land but not to developments for apartments or houses). I'm neither (from Dublin).

The estate agent advised to "use a Wicklow address" as a loophole. Obviously this raises questions and concerns so I delved further and contacted Wicklow County Council and the builder and also took advice from a solicitor who advised against the suggestion put to me (I would never have considered it in the first place).

Also I am trying to get sight of the planning permission to see if there are any restrictions for potential buyers. This stipulation is not mentioned in any advertising or the brochure.

I know the builder/estate agent want the property sold and que sera the consequences to the buyer with regards to the stipulation.

Someone mentioned that Wicklow County Council let 75% of buyers from anywhere buy and the remaining 25% have to be from Wicklow.

I am at a loss here (and am slowly going through the Planning Section on their website) .

Can anyone advise as to the following:

1. Has anyone bought a property with this restriction and if so is there a restriction as to when a person can sell i.e. have to hold onto the property for 3 years.
2. When the first buyer sells onto another person, is the sale restricted to people who live and work in Wicklow or can anyone buy (and if anyone can buy, what is the point in this?)

Many thanks in advance for anyone who can advise/help and clarify.

Re: Trying to buy in Wicklow

Unfortunately I don't have specific answers to your questions but I thought that the "locals only" rules was being investigated by the EU Commission for being discriminatory.

Link here (registration may be required)

Re: Trying to buy in Wicklow

efm said:

Unfortunately I don't have specific answers to your questions but I thought that the "locals only" rules was being investigated by the EU Commission for being discriminatory.

Link here (registration may be required)

Click to expand...

Thanks efm. I heard about the ruling but didn't have a date for it. Link is a great help. The search continues...

Re: Trying to buy in Wicklow

I bought a house that had the restriction that you refer to, I owned the house for the best part of two weeks and sold it to a person that did not qualify to buy it new.

It wasn't my original intention to flip it but work circumstances changed.

One thing to check out is the distance to your place of work. I vaguely recall that working in Tallaght fell within the area that would justify a purchase in Blessington. Check out how close you need to work, is it in Wicklow or in a certain radius of Blessington?

Re: Trying to buy in Wicklow

I live in Blessington and knowe that most developments in the town in these past few years have had this restriction. It is in place to allow for housing supply for people from West Wicklow. It is not necessary that you sell the property to a person from Wicklow. The idea is good as Blessington has undergone so much development in the recent past that the services can no longer cope with influx of people from outside the area. But as with most ideas that Wicklow County Council come up with it is full of loopholes which makes it unworkable see the below link to a story in the Sunday Business Post from June 2007 on an EU challenge to the rule.

[broken link removed]

Re: Trying to buy in Wicklow

Ty having a look at the Wicklow Council Website. There is a development plan there for Blessington specifically and Wicklow in General. Just click on Publications on the left and then Planning.

You should also be able to access the planning permission via the [broken link removed] section.

I am from Wicklow so I didn't come up against this issue but an estate agent did mention to me that a builder had come up against problems because they didn't take this 25% local need into account and the solicitors of some of the purchasers advised their clients against signing as a result.

The purpose of this I think is to protect the needs of locals who are trying to compete with people who may have made huge capital gains on houses in Dublin.

Re: Trying to buy in Wicklow

Check if theres a time limit to the restriction..this happened in a few places e.g kinsealey and as far as i remember (hazy facts though) locals were given priority for a certain period then it was open to all once that time had passed! Not everyone from wicklow wants to stay in wicklow and no developer will want properties sitting there in the hope some long lost wicklownian turns up!

Re: Trying to buy in Wicklow

It only applies to new houses, so you can sell on to whoever you want. It also only applies to certain parts of Wicklow.

The County Settlement Strategy is complicated, as there are different levels, different percentages etc. The using a Wicklow address is a loophole used, referred to as grannying I believe (similar to using granny's address to get child into school of choice).