Terry Dillon, a 30-yea-rold PA to the managing director of BUPA insurance, and her fiance Ian Kennedy (34), development manager with Griffin Software Training and Development, have been trying to buy a house in Dublin since their engagement last March. Terry says they talk, eat and sleep houses every weekend - even their social life revolves around discussing the housing market with other engaged friends who are also searching desperately for houses. The couple's combined income is above average and they have saved £25,000 for a deposit, yet they still cannot find an affordable family house in Dublin. "We're feeling completely frustrated. Houses are going for unreal money and it doesn't matter how much you are earning. Everything we go to look at, we discover we can't afford. It's reached the ridiculous stage," says Terry.
"Stressed out, bewildered and disillusioned" is how Ian describes his mood after nearly a year of house-hunting in a seller's market where buyers are not always treated, he feels, with respect. In particular, he is fed up with being occasionally given misleading information about properties and has met property developers who have added £10,000 to a new house in the course of a week when they tasted the hunger of prospective buyers. Terry, who grew up in Sandyford, Co Dublin, feels angry that a quality of life she grew up to expect has slipped beyond her grasp. It's not that her expectations are unreasonable: all she wants is a semi-detached three or four-bedroom house with a garden in greater Dublin, within easy commuting distance of her work in Fitzwilliam Square. Yet a house like the one she grew up in across the street from her mother sold for £125,000 before Christmas, and an identical one recently sold for £145,000 - a £20,000 increase in a few weeks and more than she and Ian could afford. They have looked longingly at new three-bedroom semis in Stepaside, Co Dublin, but these cost up to £150,000 and the couple cannot get a £125,000 mortgage. They considered settling for a one-bedroom in Ringsend, because of its proximity to the city centre, but that went for £100,000 at the end of the day and they realised that since they were planning to have children in three or four years, they would soon outgrow the house.
The couple then thought of buying a £110,000 apartment in Ringsend, but these apartments are not designed for family living. Terry and Ian have even considered surrendering and renting, but rents are high and Ian hates the idea of adding further to the coffers of wealthy property developers while losing out on any chance at equity.
They may settle for a £130,000 new four-bedroom detached house in, for example, Dunboyne, Co Meath, which would at least give them space for children and a garden, but this will still require a mortgage of £105,000. After monthly repayments, they would be left with £600-£700 a month to live on. So what happens in four or five years when they have children and Terry wants to work part-time or take a career break? That could be impossible. Yet if she keeps working, a child-minder could cost £500 per month, leaving the couple very little in the way of spare cash. Add to that the prospect of commuting two hours every day on top of long working hours, and it's no wonder Terry and Ian see their future as an oppressive property trap.
