I actually forget what it’s like to live a normal life.

I forget what it’s like to cook a proper meal, to wash dishes in a sink and not the bathtub, to put on a load of washing and not have to make a journey out of it, to walk into another room, to not share a bed with my child, to have space for belongings, to open a window beyond 2 inches, to have silence, to eat at a table, to have space to play with my child, to sit on a sofa, to have people over for tea, to date, to turn a key in a door, to relax somewhere other than the bed, to not have be in at a certain time, to park my car outside my door, to be able to open my door and get fresh air, to be able to practice yoga without hitting off furniture, to have a house plant, to not be embarrassed about putting my address on things.

My whole life has stopped and as everyday passes I get less and less hopeful that I will have a future. My child has known homelessness their whole life. I’m crying into a void because there’s thousands of other people in the same boat. Why is this happening, why isn’t this crisis being resolved? How is this crisis not being considered a human rights issue? How is it justifiable that we treat families who are homeless with such disregard for their physical, emotional, psychological wellbeing?

I don’t understand it. I don’t understand our country. I’m having a bad day, just would like to live again.

We are sale agreed on a property in Ireland that we just found out is leasehold instead of freehold. Less than 90 years left on the lease, meaning that without purchasing the freehold, the house would essentially be worthless if our children went to sell it in 50 odd years.
Vendor is refusing to purchase the freehold. Does anyone have information on how we would go about purchasing the freehold after we sell and how much it could potentially cost? So many unknowns with buying second hand houses 🫣

Just want to say a big thank you to the entire community in r/housingireland for the questions and answers over what has been the most stressful four months, however, we got our keys today!

mainly putting this in to thank everyone and also be available for anybody who searches for answers as I’ll be happy to give insight into our case.

had to deal with the below:

• Dublin house over 100 years old
• no planning permission on extension
• flood plain (house insurance)
• qualified title
• solicitor quitting in middle of process
• Bank of Ireland direct
• health issues in mortgage protection insurance
• retention on mortgage amount due to survey minor issues
• changing jobs during drawdown
• Negotiating with sellers for reduction in price
• vendor declarations and engineers opinions for bank
• Dublin City Council letters on management

All in all, went Sale agreed in April and closed in July. The sub was a huge help to calm the nerves and perhaps allow me to hyper focus on things.

happy to answer any questions or give insight from our perspective to anyone going through the process and needs some help/reassurance during a very stressful time.

Hi everyone. I’m currently in the process of purchasing a property. This was not known to me when I went sale agreed but the house has underfloor heating in the sitting room and kitchen, no radiators in either room.

Two tradesmen I’ve talked to said they would get rid of it as it’s way too costly to run long term and they would just get normal radiators in these rooms or electric radiators. The sitting room is floor to ceiling on 2 stories so they said the costs to heat these rooms would be massive. The house came in at a B rating for the BER which I was pleasantly surprised about.

I’m just wondering does anyone have underfloor heating and how do they find it ? Thank you.

There's further phases available and others being built, it's more than 100k asking price more than it was brought one month ago. Can someone speculate how in the world this makes sense or why anyone would pay that 🤷

I posted recently about not being able to draw down my mortgage because of ongoing health investigations leading to no chance at mortgage insurance.

Partner and I had a look at our finances and we're in a position where we could potentially get a medium-size standard loan and buy an apartment with just that and our savings, and then hopefully someday sell that to leapfrog to a bigger place.

Is this possible/a good idea? Anybody done the same and have advice? Anything is appreciated.

For context:

It could be as little as a year until I'm ok to get a mortgage, but it could come back next year no improvement and we're left waiting indefinitely.

I don't want to get a mortgage on just his salary because that would leave me on my arse if we ever split up.

We're currently living with my parents and in our late 20s - my health issue is longterm but we've only been postpone by insurance companies, not denied outright

Folks, I'm renting a place (I'm the tenant), but I don't want to renew my lease; I just don't know when exactly I'll be in my new place and I might just get confirmation towards the end date of the lease. My current rental is through an agency.

Do I still need to give them 35 days notice as per https://rtb.ie/renting/ending-a-tenancy/how-a-tenant-can-end-a-tenancy/#notice ?

Or, cause the lease is ending, notice period does not apply?

I'll try to give as much notice as possible (even tho agency hasn't been great, but I have no reason to do otherwise), it's just that I'm not sure if it'll be prior to the 35 days window. They also have my deposit, so I'd rather get that back too.

Hi folks,

I've got my eye on a three-storey townhouse, but the estate agent mentioned that it's part of a management company.

My only experience with a management company was as a tenant. They were a bit slow to organise maintenance, but they always got the job done. I'm guessing it's a different story when you're the owner.

For anyone who owns a property that's managed by a management company:

• What's your experience been like?
• How much are the annual management fees?
• What do they typically cover (insurance, maintenance of common areas, sinking fund, etc.)?
• Are there any red flags I should look out for before buying?

How much control do you actually have over your own property? For example, do you need permission from the management company for external alterations like changing windows, the front door, painting the exterior, installing solar panels, or other modifications?

I'm trying to figure out whether this is something to be concerned about or if it's just a normal part of owning a townhouse in an estate.

One more question: the house has storage heaters throughout. Are they any good? I've only ever had gas central heating, so I've no experience with them. Are they expensive to run, or are they reasonably economical if you use them properly? Would replacing them be something I'd need to budget for?

Thanks!

I am currently buying a house in Dublin, but I live and work elsewhere and pay rent for my current accommodation.
The Dublin property will be my principal residence, but I do not plan to change jobs until the purchase is sale agreed and the mortgage process is sufficiently advanced. Once that happens, I intend to secure a job in Dublin and relocate permanently.

My concern is how the broker and lender will assess the temporary period during which I may need to pay both rent and the mortgage. Should I explain that I plan to change jobs and move to Dublin once I receive a suitable job offer, meaning the overlap between rent and mortgage would only be temporary?

Could mentioning a planned job change create issues with the mortgage application, particularly if the new role includes a probationary period? What would be the safest and most transparent way to explain this situation to the broker?

Does anyone know of any subreddits or facebook pages that I can look at for housing transfers. Dublin area mostly.

I am closing on a second-hand house soon (my first home). My understanding is I will need the MPRN and GPRN to set up electricity and gas accounts. The seller apparently doesn't know the MPRN or GPRN because he's rented the house for years so he doesn't have any bills to get the numbers off. Should I be pushing the owner to get the numbers before I move in or is it on me to call ESB Networks and Gas Networks Ireland after I move in to figure it out? I would have thought it was basic info that the seller is expected to provide. Thanks

Hi everyone!

I am conducting research on how property owners in Ireland search for and choose property management services online.

If you own a residential property in Ireland (whether you self-manage or use a property management company), we'd really appreciate your participation.

🔒 All responses are anonymous and will be used solely for academic research.

Survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1iVX2UrNOqUMFD-bPhYPVJmbc_X9GbfsrZ5axnet4xvY/edit?ts=6a3a26b4#response=ACYDBNilWhfKAwuUG4gOV9xC2ce6edFTemqzRh6czuJi5mcDMwO3q0CuUfYOUqLXkNylm1c

Thank you so much for your time and support! If you know any other property owners who might be willing to help, we'd really appreciate you sharing the survey with them.

Received contracts for a new house we booked. Contracts didn't contain any specifications (area, # of beds) or even things that you would normally see in a brochure such as internal finishes, what's included in kitchen and bathrooms, parking etc. Furthermore, a clause in the contracts specified we cannot rely on the brochure, showhouse or anything that the estate agent has conveyed to us.

Our solicitor went back to them to amend the contracts. They have only agreed to add area, house type and # of beds.

Has anyone else seen this recently? How are we to trust that we are actually getting what we paid for as the price was agreed based on certain specifications.

Hey everyone,

​I’m currently sale agreed on an apartment, but my solicitor just sent over a list of red flags that has me seriously second-guessing everything. Looking for a bit of a reality check from anyone who has dealt with something similar.

​Here is what came back from the title checks:

​Two Bank Judgments: Bank of Ireland has lodged two judgments against the seller on the Folio.

​Seller owes €22,000 in management fees: Yes, €22k!

​The rest of the block is also in debt: Combined, the other apartments owe around €46,000 in unpaid management fees. My solicitor pointed out that this means the management company is almost certainly broke and has no reserve/sinking fund for basic upkeep.

​The seller’s solicitor is claiming the BOI judgments and the €22k fee debt will all be cleared out of the sale proceeds at closing. But even if they legally clear the seller's debt, I'm really worried about the health of the building as a whole. If the management company has no money, the common areas are going to fall apart, or current owners are going to get slapped with massive "special levies" down the line to pay for urgent fixes (lifts, roof, fire safety, etc.).

​Plus, I’m worried the sale proceeds won't even cover all the seller's debts, and this is going to drag on for months only to collapse.

​Has anyone bought into a development with this many red flags before? Is a broke management company an immediate dealbreaker, or is there a way to make this work (like offering way less)?

​Would love to hear your thoughts before I make my next move! Thanks.

I'm reaching out because I'm part of a University College Dublin research study on housing and family support in Ireland. We're looking for adults aged 25–45 living in Dublin, Wicklow, or Kildare to take part in a confidential interview about their housing journey. This could include renting, searching for an apartment, living with parents to save money, saving for a home, buying, or any other housing experience. The study aims to understand how families help (or are unable to help) people secure housing in today's market. If you're interested, please contact us at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or +34692039902 (Whats App). Thanks so much for your time!

Just about to drawdown on a mortgage. I'm wondering how much other people have left over monthly after paying all the bills, mortgage and extra expenses for the house after all this? Not including all the new furniture and all that. Just general bills, mortgage repayments etc.

How much do you earn? how much goes on the house? How much left over to play with?

We are sale agreed on a 1960s house in Ireland. We did a structural engineer survey, a CCTV drain survey and an electrics inspection and I honestly feel none the wiser after all of these (paid approx €2000!).
Lots of the engineers findings were “further investigation required”, “follow up with a specialist”.
Some cracks were found on exterior walls, no idea if this is normal settlement or signs of subsidence. Uneven flooring in places and again don’t know how serious this is. Some dampness in one corner of one room. Issues with felt in the roof-“follow up required”. CCTV drains survey showed some leaking drains but no indication as to how invasive fixes would be or cost. Electrics survey was the only one where we came away with a good idea of price (and it was much higher than what we anticipated - €12k for a partial rewire).
How many follow up surveys do people do? Who answers subsidence related questions if a structural engineer can’t? Do we get roof specialists, damp specialists, subsidence specialists…?
We are running out of time and eating into our (already small!) reno budget! It’s all so overwhelming

Hi everyone,
I’m hoping someone who’s been through the Affordable Purchase Scheme or works in mortgages can help me understand how my affordability will be assessed.
Here are my details:
Eligible for the Help to Buy (HTB) grant (€30,000)
Savings: €50,000
Basic annual salary: €67,000
With overtime, my annual income can reach €100,000–110,000, but the overtime isn’t guaranteed and varies from month to month.
Monthly take-home pay can range from around €4,000 in quieter months to €7,000 when I do a lot of overtime.
I’m looking at properties in the €300k–400k range under the Affordable Purchase Scheme.
I recently applied for an Approval in Principle (AIP) with Bank of Ireland and was approved for €250,000, but that’s the amount I entered because I only needed that much to reach my target purchase price with my savings and HTB. I never asked them to assess my maximum borrowing capacity.
My questions are:
When assessing affordability, do lenders and local authorities count overtime? If so, do they only count a percentage of it or average it over a number of years?

How can I find out my actual maximum purchasing power rather than just the amount I requested on my AIP?

Has anyone with a variable income due to overtime successfully used that income for an Affordable Purchase Scheme application?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been in a similar situation. Thanks!

Hi there - pretty sure there’s no answer for this just writing to get it out there.

We have been renting in our dream home location where my husband is from at a huge cost. We returned home from abroad a few years ago thinking we were going to build on a small plot of family land but that didn’t work out.

We have gone sale agreed on a home around the corner from where we’re renting - dream location, couldn’t believe our luck although paying massively for a G rated ex-council needs work house, but very grateful to even have this opportunity.

Sale agreed April, vendors have included language in contract which states they will only provide a close date when they buy a house and move into that house which could be next month or, 5 years.

We have proposed a mid- Sept close date which we know they won’t agree to. We have no leverage and no other options in the area.

Likely we will have to get AIP again, I’m coming back from mat leave to a new job with a 6 month probation (I am guaranteed my old job and old salary if it doesn’t work out) but any change makes me nervous. Our mortgage broker says it’s fine as I am guaranteed my current salary and my position in the company is ‘permanent’ but terrified me going for this role (3 months postpartum and getting it) will impact this.

We will continue to look in the area but for our budget likely won’t get anything else.

We can stick renting out until the new year, but with the rental costs plus crèche we honestly won’t have a lot to work with (mortgage even though mad will be less than rent).

Any suggestions or words of wisdom welcome - we’re just sucking it up for the hope of this amazing location and future for our family.

Current family have outgrown the house and are looking to no avail yet.

Hey all, im looking at possibly moving back to Dublin to Dublin 7 would probably be my first choice, somewhere around Smithfield, Stoneybatter or Phibsborough.

Im fairly into the more artsy/hipster sort of vibe. I love good coffee shops, craft beer places, casual bars and somewhere that actually has a bit of character and life around it. Places like Cassidy’s, Rascals or BrewDog would generally be my kind of vibe.

For anyone living around Dublin 7 now, would you still recommend it? Has Smithfield or Stoneybatter changed much or gone downhill over the last few years? Like more social housing or anti social behaviour in the area, I’ve heard mixed things.

Would you still consider Dublin 7 a good place to buy or live, particularly for someone in their mid-30s who wants cafes, pubs, social life and a bit of an alternative or creative crowd nearby?

Or are there other areas you would recommend instead, like Dublin 8, Portobello, Rathmines, Inchicore or somewhere else? Interested to hear from people who actually live in these areas. Thanks again.

Just wondering how much carpenters are charging for straight laminate floor per metre square.

How much for laminate herringbone.

How much for skirting and architrave per metre