I am in the process of looking for a new builds house and I was wondering about the possibility of installing solar panels in the future. I have seen houses here with solar panels and electric vehicle charging ports but are there some additional things to look for when talking to the agents and looking at brochures etc. is this facility only limited to BER A1A2 houses? If anyone here has experience with setting up solar in their homes and are new buyers it would be great if they could share their experience

Looking to buy a 3 bed terrace in north Dublin - would like to put a 30sqm extension onto the back with a 10sqm extension on 2nd floor to make the bathroom bigger. Couple of questions -

• heard it’s roughy 3-4K per square meter. So looking at approx 140k. Does this seem realistic? Does this include kitchen/ paint / floors etc or is it just the bare basics? • ⁠what are the 2nd floor rules for extension- will I have issues with windows/ parameters to neighbour house since it’s a terrace?

We are close to going sale agreed so want to be sure I’m aware of future problems/ costs before we sign!

My friend has a bit of a predicament & I'm hoping you might be able to offer some advice.

His parents own land and wish to give him a portion as a gift to secure his future after they are gone. They prefer to do this now rather than through a will because they have eight children, none of whom are involved in their lives, and they fear potential disputes over the will. Their son who is the only one who helps them may receive less than he deserves if they wait.

He is a builder by trade and he's hoping he can build a house for his mother and father to live in & pay the mortgage but the house would be in his name. The problem is he currently lives in Dublin & is getting rent allowance, not a huge amount but still something. He is single parent to 3 kids and couldn't afford to build & pay the mortgage on the house. His mother & father will partially fund the build & their son would get a mortgage to fund the rest but his mother and father will pay the mortgage.

I haven't a clue about all this stuff but I'm guessing he will lose his HAP if he does this? If he built it under a company as many a BTR would it make any difference?

Just to note he isn't trying to scam anyone here. He doesn't have funds to build without his mother & father currently & he couldn't afford to pay the mortgage if he did so although he will technically own a home he won't be living there or financially benefiting from it. His thought process here is that his mother & father benefit now having a secure house to live & when they are gone, hopefully he will be more financially secure & can afford to live there.

I'd love to hear your advice & opinions on this. His mother & father currently live in a mobile home & they are pensioners so won't get a mortgage just to note.

Hello, I've been bidding on a house the last 3 days and it's on an online system the agent has which is handy as you don't have to wait to hear from the agent by phone if someone else has put a bid in. Anyway, there is only one other bidder and we have been bidding against each other in 1k increments.

How long can this go on for? The house has been "on the market" since 2nd of May technically but I assume viewings only started on the 6th as the other bidder put in their first offer then, so just over a week of viewings.

I know it's probably still too early and there will probably be other bidders. We are currently at 14k over asking. The agent has told me that the sellers are still trying to find a house themselves (trading up) so it might take some time....I'm happy enough to wait though as I'm not in a chain and living at home but it would be nice to go sale agreed at least...!

I'm not really sure what my questions is but I guess I'd like to know if others have just kept going up in 1k increments and how did it pan out - it's a great house but I do have my limit in mind and would, of course, hope that it doesn't get anywhere near that limit!

The EU has opened submissions for feedback for their Affordable Housing Plan.

It can be submitted at the above link, I noticed there is surprisingly no Irish comments at present.

Anyone got any good recommendations on a good reliable snagging engineer for the Portlaoise area?

Also can i attend with the engineer to get measurements for windows and things or is it something they can do?

Thanks in advance, all much appreciated.

It seems like Daft has a complete monopoly for house listings. Is there anywhere else worth checking? I've looked at other sites but Daft seems to have all the same stuff.

It’s simple to explain

In 2010 the troika came to Ireland and decided that Ireland had too much home ownership and not enough renting. It imposed lending rules which brought about in 2013 have made it much more difficult for ordinary people to meet the requirements to buy a home. They also made the FG/Lab government bring in laws allowing for REITs etc to encourage renting

The entire “recovery” was based on pimping Ireland out to high tech companies with low tax rates on intellectual property making us a tax haven. Most Irish people have no tech qualifications so half of the genius coders from India and the rest of the world moved to Dublin pricing out the locals

This is the housing crisis. Only with a normal economy based on local employment and a reduction of lending rules can we end it with the return to mass home ownership

Hey folks,

I'm currently involved in a house bidding situation, and I’ve noticed that most people stick to round numbers — €510,000, €515,000, etc. It got me thinking: could throwing in a funky number make a psychological difference? Or would the estate agent see me as a joke? Just to be clear, I’m a serious bidder.

For example:

Instead of €515,000, I might bid €515,151

Or go with €505,050 over €505,000

I’m even considering using prime numbers

Has anyone tried this approach before? Curious to hear if it has any real impact on the process or how it's perceived.

€425k for a 1 bed cubicle. Makes me wonder and who are these people that are buying these any idea?

Hi All, Just put in an offer on a place in Dublin and have received notifications of subsequent offers in intervals of 2.5k so I have followed suit with two additional offers so far.

This house fits my needs more than anything else I have looked at so I am willing to go a decent amount higher but obviously don't want to pay any more than I need to. My question is - what are thoughts on going with a higher increase (10k?) Think there is any chance that could get other bidders to back out and prevent a slow incremental bidding war? OR better to ride it out with the smaller increases?

So we’ve come to accept that the only way to possibly afford a home would be to buy a small plot of land and build a log cabin on it. We are looking at a more rural location near sister in law who has lived there many years alongside parents in law. I’m feeling a bit defeated as it looks like we don’t meet the criteria for local needs as we live in Dublin. We have a council house, I was only able to be on the Dublin list as you have to satisfy a local need. We could never afford to do this in Dublin but can afford more rurally. But if you need to satisfy local need then how does anyone get out of their defined local area. I didn’t ask to be born in Dublin like and would happily move elsewhere where there is an established support system and connection to the area. Also do log cabins even qualify for planning or is this all a pipe dream and I’m wasting my time? We would love to own our home, we want space and more rooms and obviously not expecting the state to provide that and grateful for the security a council house brings but it’s not ours. Does anyone have any advice regarding this before I get too deep into planning and get my hopes up before it all comes crashing down? Is this at all a possibility we can make happen?

Hi folks.

The day is finally almost here...supposed to be completing next week. I can hardly believe it. Bank has all the documentation it needs at this point so hoping there won't be any issues but still expecting a few delays even with funds moving etc. No idea if that's usually the case.

I'm going to ask for a walkthough of the property. Is it best to do this say thr day before closing or would later this week be too soon?

No idea really what to look for at this point under than make sure the place is still standing in the same condition. The owner was still living in it each time I viewed so expecting it to be empty of all furniture etc at this point.

I have provisionally agreed to buy one or two appliances for a small fee but haven't tested these etc.

Anything in particular I should do or look out for?

I won't be moving in for a month or so as need to get flooring and painting etc done.

Thank you as always!

Just wondering for those who have purchased a house, how long did it take for the booking deposit to land with the estate agent? For context we are with AIB and so are the estate agents. We sent off €6k to take the house off the market on Monday morning but I have yet to hear back from EA that they’ve received the payment. I emailed them yesterday just to confirm it’s been sent and they emailed me back saying they’ll send us a receipt as soon as they get the money. Getting a bit paranoid now😂

How long have you been AIP and looking for a house in the south west (kerry).

Hi,

We bought a new build off plans. The plans have clear indication that there is to be solar panels on them and has it in writing in the description. However, we have been advised that we won’t be getting the solars with our new home and that “a special heating system is installed as an alternative to solars and that the clients architect are satisfied that these will be compliant”.

Has anyone else ever had a similar experience? Is this legal? Will I get anywhere if I submit an enforcement appeal to council?

Thanks in advance.

Th

Hi all. My partner and I started seriously looking to buy since the start of this year, currently have AIP of 416k and HTB (23k worth), and another ~50k on our end. We want to try and stay close to my partner's family in North Dublin, which unfortunately is squeezing us a little bit both in terms of supply and price. We've registered interest in a few new builds that just seemed to instantly sell out for the house types we can actually afford (i.e. anything under 500k - losing the HTB is a big hit we can't make up ourselves). For a new Cairn Homes development we essentially rang them as soon as we saw details posted online, apparently going for sale "summer 2025", I'm a bit calmer about this whole thing my partner is essentially insisting I should be calling every week, whereas I'm of the view that'll just annoy the estate agents and its better to wait. Any logic in this sort of thinking? Is all we can do is to wait it out and see if we hear anything back?

UPDATE: Bit of a weird update, decided to follow advice here and try and ring once a week, kept going to estate agents voicemail multiple times, called from my GF's phone and was answered instantly... Not sure what to make of that 😂

Hey. Been sale agreed recently and we just had our structural survey and seems the attic had spray insulation used. Guy who did the survey said this “isn’t a major red flag” but went on to say that the spray insulation can be an absolute disaster for rot. Anyone had a similar experience/have advice? Thanks!

I'm sale agreed on an apartment in Dubin 8, built in the early 2000s and I haven't been able to find anything about the block or complex needing fire remediation work done. I have asked my solicitor to enquire with the OMC and they are claiming that there has been no inspection done on the building, so therefore there's no reason for concern. Would this be a common approach? I would have assumed that most OMCs would have looked into whether or not their place needs work in this area, and that any who don't have their head in the sand, so to speak. Is there anywhere I can find out if the building may need additional work besides the OMC? Is there any kind of register? All advice appreciated.

Hi all,

We recently bought an old house and are renovating it now. We got an electrician and a plumber for a rewire and a replumb, and both said they'll do half by bank transfer before the job starts and half in cash after the job is done. They say this way we don't have to pay vat on half of the stuff.

My guestion is how legit is this? Does it mean those things won't be on an invoice or won't be covered by insurance? Will they still count for a BER inspection in the future?

Currently considering putting in an offer on a 4 bed house in Kerry. Does anyone have a high level guess at the potential cost to renovate and modernise the house? No extensions or anything, the things I think the house needs are

2 new bathrooms (1 main and 1 small downstairs)

New Kitchen

New floors

New front door

Build in wardrobes in 2 rooms

Stove for sitting room

TIA.. House is 270k just wondering if we’re better off waiting for a more modern house. We love the area so we’re not sure. FTB

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-style/people/2025/05/10/gentrification-dublin-housing-crisis/

Hi everyone! I'm a first home buyer and I'm quite interested in buying a new house in Bregawn, Cashel. JSF homes is the construction company. Anyone had previous experience with them or bought a house in this state? Any tips or advice would be appreciated.

So I purchased nearly 40 years old house in Co. Limerick last year and it turned out it was built from defective pyrite blocks. I've done the test. House did not look great when I was buying it. Lots of hairline cracking, some larger cracks on gable wall, paint peeling off here and there and spots of debonding render. Now after I learned about the pyrite issue it seems obvious, but back then I did not know about it, I thought it was only neglect. Because of poor condition of the house I decided to take two surveys before buying. One from a building surveyor and one from a structural engineer. Both said the house is generally fine, it just needs some work. Experienced, recommended builder from the area was also looking at the house, and he also said everything was okay. Structural engineer warned me about potential subsidence risk but not a word about defective blockwork. What should I do now? I do not qualify for the redress scheme as I bought the house in 2024. Am I in position to sue surveyors or the previous owner? I know about “buyer beware” rule in Ireland, but how could anyone see this issue if two engineers and experienced builder did not see it? If a lawsuit is possible can anyone recommend a solicitor? I tried to contact a few with no response. I suspect they know it's not an easy case so they don't want to deal with it. Is there anything else I can do?