r/HousingIreland

For anyone living in a newer housing estate in Ireland, how are you finding the privacy situation?

I’ve noticed in some new developments that the houses are quite close together, with upstairs windows looking directly down into neighbouring gardens (regardless of the price). In some cases, it feels like there’s very little privacy when you’re sitting outside.

Is this just something that comes with buying a new build nowadays, or have others experienced estates where the layout gives you a decent amount of privacy?

Edit: in addition to overlooking thr gardens, the upstairs windows also seem to directly overlook the rooms at the front of the neighbouring houses.

Side entrance, driveway, upstairs bathroom

Has anyone any tips on trying to negotiate a price reduction on a property after a structural survey please? We are after discovering the septic tank isn't functioning and untreated waste is seeping into the ground/lawn and building up causing blockages and needs to be redone on a house we are sale agreed. Provisional cost is €10k - €15k to have the work done. We have young kids and raw sewage going into ground and backing into house with blockages and smell isn't ideal but we love the house. We are thinking to renegotiate the sale agreed price by the cost of the works but has anyone succeeded in negotiations like this before and have any tips please 🙏🤞

Looking for opinions from anyone who has renovated a similar 1960s solid-block house in Ireland.

We’re looking at buying a detached 1968 house currently rated BER E2. The external walls appear to be solid block. Interestingly, the BER report assigns the walls a U-value of around 0.6 W/m²K. I’m not convinced this reflects the actual construction/performance of the walls, as there doesn’t appear to be any obvious wall insulation.

So I’d also be interested if any BER assessors can explain how a late-1960s solid block wall could end up with a 0.6 value, or whether this could simply be an assumed/default value based on the information available to the assessor.

Regardless of which route we choose, we intend to do the obvious fabric upgrades first:
• Proper attic insulation
• Insulate the suspended timber ground floor
• Draught/airtightness improvements where sensible
• Upgrade ventilation where required
The dilemma is what to do after that.

OPTION 1 – IWI + HEAT PUMP
This would mean internally insulating essentially all of the external walls, dealing properly with moisture/thermal bridging and making good around windows, doors, electrics etc.
We’d then install a heat pump and upgrade the heating distribution, including larger/new radiators designed for low-temperature operation.

There are significant SEAI grants available, but even after grants this looks like a substantial capital investment.

My concern is the actual financial payback.
If the deep retrofit/heat-pump route ultimately costs €30k–€50k more than the alternative, but saves perhaps €1,000–€1,500 a year in energy costs, that’s a 20–50 year simple payback before even considering the financing/opportunity cost of the extra capital.

OPTION 2 – MODERNISE THE OIL SYSTEM + THERMAL PLASTER
The alternative we’re considering is:
• New high-efficiency condensing oil boiler
• Replace/resize radiators
• Size the radiators and pipework with a future heat pump in mind
• Smart TRVs/room-by-room temperature control
• Proper heating and hot-water zoning
• Smart controls
• Attic insulation
• Suspended-floor insulation
• Air sealing/draught improvements
• Appropriate ventilation
• Log burner in the main living room
Instead of conventional IWI, we’d use a breathable insulating/thermal plaster on the inside of the solid external walls.

The walls need replastering/skimming as part of the renovation anyway, so the relevant cost isn’t necessarily the entire thermal-plastering bill – it’s the additional cost compared with replastering the house normally.
I realise thermal plaster isn’t remotely equivalent to 80–100mm of proper IWI and isn’t an alternative if the objective is achieving the same U-value.

The idea is instead to improve internal surface temperature and comfort, reduce the cold-wall effect and get some additional thermal benefit without spending a very significant amount on full IWI.
We’d essentially accept a worse BER and somewhat higher annual heating consumption in return for much lower upfront capital expenditure.
What I’m struggling with is whether that’s actually the more rational financial decision.

If I spend €30k–€50k extra getting the house to heat-pump/IWI standard, how much am I realistically going to save each year compared with a well-insulated attic/floor, modern efficient oil boiler, properly sized radiators, smart controls and thermal plaster?
On the other hand, I don’t want to spend €15k-ish replacing the oil boiler, radiators and controls now only to realise in five years that we should have gone straight to a heat pump.

Has anyone actually run the numbers on a similar 1960s solid-block E/F-rated Irish house?

I’d be particularly interested in:
• Whether that 0.6 wall U-value sounds realistic in the first place
• Actual before/after annual heating costs
• Cost of IWI after grants
• Real-world heat-pump electricity consumption
• Whether IWI noticeably improved comfort beyond the energy savings
• Experience with insulating/thermal lime plaster on solid block
• Whether retaining modern oil + improving attic/floor/controls was a false economy
• Or whether anyone regrets spending €40k–€50k+ chasing B2/heat-pump readiness because the financial savings didn’t justify the investment
I’m less concerned about achieving a particular BER letter and more interested in comfort, moisture safety and getting the best return from the money invested.

If this were your house and your money, would you spend the extra on IWI + heat pump now, or upgrade the fabric where it gives the best return, install modern oil + heat-pump-ready radiators, and revisit the heat pump later?

Hi all.

Our mortgage application is going into BOI and Haven through our broker tomorrow, we are sale agreed on a new build, have the deposit and required fees there.

Broker seems happy enough with our application, I’m just wondering what’s a realistic goal to have in mind, house won’t be ready till late December most likely January.

From applying to AIP to loan offer. How long should this take and how long did it take yous ?

I’ve heard from some people finding a house is the longest part, so considering we have a deposit down on a new build hopefully it won’t take that long

Trying to pick a kitchen for a house presents a crazy amount of options. What are people's thoughts on the MDF/PVC vs painted wood for the cabinets, and silestone (quartz) vs laminate for the worktops? Especially considering kids, it's not going to be a show kitchen by any means.
Have people's painted wood cabinets chipped? Does laminate peel/wear out quickly?

I’m looking at affordable housing in Ireland and I’m wondering how buyers can properly investigate the builders/contractors involved before committing hundreds of thousands of euro.

One example that caught my attention is Dolphin House in Dublin. Phase 1 of the regeneration involved 100 homes and cost about €26 million, including 37 new-build homes and 63 refurbished units. It was completed in 2018. Eight years later, residents have reported issues including leaking roofs, damp, cracks, heating problems and windows cracking/overheating. Dublin City Council has said defects and residents’ feedback from Phase 1 are now being used to inform later phases and that inspection standards have improved. Purcell Construction, the contractor involved in Phase 1, told The Irish Times it had “no knowledge of the matter” and declined further comment.

That genuinely worries me. If I found out that a company associated with developments where serious problems have later been reported was building an affordable housing scheme I was considering buying into, it would be a major red flag and I’d want to investigate properly before signing anything.

Ireland urgently needs housing, but we’re also building at huge speed. For buyers, especially people using affordable purchase schemes, this is still an enormous amount of money and potentially a 30-year mortgage. How can we make sure speed and housing targets aren’t coming at the expense of quality?

Is there somewhere you can check a builder’s previous developments, building-control records, defects, enforcement notices, disputes with councils or complaints? Can you FOI a local authority for records relating to previous projects? And is there a way of finding out exactly who the contractor, developer, engineer, architect and assigned certifier are before purchasing?

What checks would you do before buying an affordable/new-build home?

Hi, long time lurker here. We are about to sign the contract for a new build house. In the contract we see just one rectangle outlining our future house along with other rectangles outlining other neighbouring houses. There is nothing else, like the actual boundaries of our house, garden space dimensions etc. Is this standard across the new builds?

The contract does have a clause that says that the outline is for identification only and physical boundaries "to be laid out by the Contractor as soon as practicable.", should i be concerned about this?

Another question: Brochure says that the house will come with wardrobes, heat pump, and kitchen cabinets, but they are not included in the contract. The estate agent confirmed that they will be part of the house over email. Is this normal?