How about Ongar?

ceoltoir

I've received an email from the affordable housing people advertising two and three-bedroom houses for €172,000 to €190,000. They're in Latchford, Ongar. It seems like very good value, seeing as I can't afford anything else and I don't want to live in an apartment.

The only problem is that Ongar looks like it's on the far side of the country. I work in UCD; I'm renting a house in Windy Arbour at the moment, just half an hour's walk from work. There's a lot to be said for that.

I lived in Blanchardstown about ten years ago and it nearly killed me getting two buses to work; it took about two hours each way. I know the public transport situation has improved in recent years and the 70 bus comes straight to UCD.

Most of the posts about Ongar that I've read mention traffic problems and problems with the standard of finish on houses/apartments.

So, is there anything to be said in favour of Latchford?

inforfun

The 39 from Ongar to Dublin City centre takes ages. Count on 1hr30 mins minimum. Might get a bit better once the roadworks on the M50 roundabout in Blanchardstown are finished but it is still a long, very long journey.
Dont know about the 70 going through Ongar.
My gf lived for a while in Ongar and she decided to move from there (was only renting) because of the time it took het to get to work (city centre) and back home.
And that the houses are not really well built / finished.... I dont have the impression that that only goes for Ongar.

Anything positive? Well.. it is pretty close to Blancharstown shopping centre?

The_Conductor

If you have children, or plan on having children- don't go near Ongar. There are severe capacity issues in the local schools- I am personally aware of one poor parent who has one child enrolled in Dunboyne and another in Lucan- they were unable to find local places.

Do lots of research on the local facilities and amenities.......

markpb

ceoltoir wrote: »

I lived in Blanchardstown about ten years ago and it nearly killed me getting two buses to work; it took about two hours each way. I know the public transport situation has improved in recent years and the 70 bus comes straight to UCD.

As someone who bought an apartment close to work and now commutes across the city every day, *don't do it*. It's worse than you think, much worse.

ZYX

If you plan to continue to work in UCD you would be mad to buy in Ongar. Even if house was free I would not live there and commute accross to UCD every day.

mikemac

Public transport and probably a car too will take aaaages every day.

If were you I'd get a scooter, the commute would be manageable
And you'd be cool :cool:

irlrobins

ZYX wrote: »

If you plan to continue to work in UCD you would be mad to buy in Ongar. Even if house was free I would not live there and commute accross to UCD every day.

+1 on this,your quality of life would suffer as you'll spend ages commuting 5 days a week. That and the fact that private sales are not that much more expensive than affordable housing and without clawback, would make a purchase in Ongar a bad decision imo.

ceoltoir

Thanks for the advice everybody. To be honest, I didn't quite fancy the idea of a commute like that every day. I hate commuting. Even though I don't have kids or a wife, I'd rather not spend my life in a car/bus.

The problem is that with my single income (just over €50,000), any house within five miles of the city centre is beyond my reach. Added to that, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county council doesn't have much in the affordable housing line. It's all apartments, and not great quality at that.

Anyway, I'll hold tight for the moment and see how much more prices will fall.

markpb

ceoltoir wrote: »

The problem is that with my single income (just over €50,000), any house within five miles of the city centre is beyond my reach.

1 bed apartments in the city centre are at about 160k already. I'd imagine it won't be too long until you could afford a 2 bed apartment there too. Avoid the commute for as long as you can!

ceoltoir

This sounds very fussy, but I don't really want to live in an apartment if I can avoid it, especially not what passes for an apartment in Ireland. Visions of noisy neighbours, loud music, late night parties etc. Being from the country, I'd much rather a terraced or semi-d house, second-hand or new, with a nice garden to the rear. No management companies or yearly charges. Maybe I'm just daydreaming too much, especially for south Dublin!

bangersandmash

ceoltoir wrote: »

This sounds very fussy, but I don't really want to live in an apartment if I can avoid it, especially not what passes for an apartment in Ireland. Visions of noisy neighbours, loud music, late night parties etc. Being from the country, I'd much rather a terraced or semi-d house, second-hand or new, with a nice garden to the rear. No management companies or yearly charges. Maybe I'm just daydreaming too much, especially for south Dublin!

Not fussy at all. I know it's practically a mantra these days, but your situation sounds like a clear-cut case of renting being a more suitable option than buying. At present you rent in an established suburb, beside the Luas, within a few kms of the city centre and you have a stroll to work. The alternative is to live in an outlying area with poor transport links, leaving you with a mammoth commute every day.

Some might bring up the tired phrase about 'dead money' but clearly your current rent is paying for a much higher standard of living. Rents around your general area seem to be plummeting. Partly due to oversupply of unwanted apartments in Dublin 14 and partly due to many family homes going on the rental market because vendors don't want to sell in the current climate.

The result is that you might be able to reduce your rent and save more, or move to a larger house in the same area. Both seem like better options than committing to a move to Ongar.

Firetrap

It also goes to show the madness of the whole thing. 50k is a good wage in my book yet someone like you is still being priced out of the market.

irlrobins

50K is a good wage. And could well be enough to get a mortgage to pay a semi d in some parts of south dublin given the fall in prices. OF course, this would depend on the OP's complete financial picture.

ceoltoir

bangersandmash wrote: »

Some might bring up the tired phrase about 'dead money' but clearly your current rent is paying for a much higher standard of living. Rents around your general area seem to be plummeting. Partly due to oversupply of unwanted apartments in Dublin 14 and partly due to many family homes going on the rental market because vendors don't want to sell in the current climate.

The result is that you might be able to reduce your rent and save more, or move to a larger house in the same area. Both seem like better options than committing to a move to Ongar.

That sounds like very good sense bangersandmash. I'm actually renting from a friend of mine who lives abroad most of the year, so I have the whole house to myself. I'm saving a good bit of money each year but need to save even more in order to build up a good deposit. Staying put for now seems like a good idea.

Victor

There is the prospect of the railway, but that means (most likely) changing trains twice and walking from Sydney Parade.

http://www.irishrail.ie/projects/dunboyne_commuter_rail.asp