Door to door: New homes for commuters

Before Covid, commuting was considered to be a loss of precious free time but after 18 months working from home and eating, living and sleeping in the same space, many people returning to the office are quietly giving thanks for the opportunity to put some distance between home and work.

That transit time, from the minute you depart the home and journey via bus, train or car, gives an opportunity to listen to music or a podcast, catch up on the news or ready yourself for the day ahead.

It gives you a third space, a decompression chamber to inhabit, a time to breathe, after you leave work and before you walk through your front door to begin home life.

Dublin’s outer suburbs, peripheral towns and commuter counties offer the best options to do this.

Co Kildare

Oldtown Woods, in the heritage town of Celbridge, is a large development of two-, three- and four-bedroom family homes that appeal to Dublin based workers as well as Kildare locals, says agent Frank McSharry, director of new homes at Lisney, joint agent with Coonan Property. Launching later this year, 30 three- and four-bed houses with prices for the former, of 110sq m (1,184sq ft) €400,000 and the latter, of 130sq m (1,400sq ft), from €490,000.

Newbridge is a hive of new home construction. Situated on the banks of the Liffey with has its own train station giving you a journey time of 25 minutes to Dublin’s Heuston Station, commuters will love Station Walk, which is just 10 minutes on foot from the train. The Ballymore development will include sizeable three-bed mid, end-terrace and semi-detached styles of about 120sq m (1,292sq ft), as well as four-bedroom semis of 145sq m (1,561sq ft), with prices still to be confirmed.

On the outskirts of the town, Glenveagh Properties is bringing Belin Woods to market through agents Knight Frank, most likely early next year, launching between 30 and 40 two-, three- and four-bed homes.

Prices at the Anthony Neville Homes Curragh Farm, a mix of three and four bed terraced and semi houses, start from €350,000 through joint agents Savills and Coonan Property.

Co Meath

DNG is selling three-beds off plans from €295,000 at Ringfort, Rathmoylon, while in Kildangan, Harristown Drive is a small scheme totaling 22 units. Just eight two- and three-bed bungalows, ideal for traders-down, will be ready for completion in mid-November. The two-beds, which are about 90sq m (969sq ft), start from €320,000 while the three-beds, which extend from 110sq m (1,184sq ft) to 120sq m (1,292sq ft), with prices starting from €340,000 through DNG Doyle in Naas.

Co Wicklow

In Greystones, some of the housebuilder Durkan’s nine sizeable four-beds at Sillan, Church Lane, in the heart of the village, may be finished by November, says selling agent Gavan Ryan, director of new homes at Savills. The design, by PD Lane Associates, is for seven detached and a pair of semi-detached houses with no pricing in place yet.

Phase two of the Durkan-built Vartry Wood in Ashford, Co Wicklow, will launch at the end of September with prices from €400,000 for three-bed and €460,000 for four-bed semis through joint agents Savills and Clarke Auctioneers.

Co Dublin

Those in search of a semi-rural experience don’t even have to go that far, says Ivan Gaine. Riverview by Axis Construction in Rolestown, at the Co Meath border, is a development of 28 large four- and five-bedroom homes due to launch late this year or early in 2022. Prices are not yet confirmed.

In west Dublin, Tandy’s Lane in Lucan is a mix of houses, mainly three-beds, two and three-bedroom duplexes and apartments being developed by Quintain but again no prices are furnished yet.

In Newcastle, Cairn launches the first of its two-bed apartments of 84sq m (904sq ft), and three-bed duplexes of 124sq m (1,335sq ft) at Graydon, but pricing has not been finalised.

Fans of coastal living should head north to Rush where Mariner’s Way by Richmond Homes is only a 250m walk from the village’s beautiful sandy beach. A 15-minute walk to Rush and Lusk train station, it will be a mix of two, three and four- bed semi-detached and terraced family homes. It is launching with 22 large three-bedroom homes – terraced with 111sq m (1,195sq ft) and semi-detached with 137sq m (1,475sq ft) – with a showhouse designed by Angeline Ball of Avenue One. Prices are TBC through agent REA Grimes.

In Skerries, joint agents Savills and REA Grimes will be bringing the next phase at Barnageeragh Cove to market next spring. Sanderling will comprise two-bedroom apartments, 70sqm and three- bedroom duplexes, 122sq m in size. Prices have not yet been fixed.

Outer suburbs of Dublin

Dublin’s outer suburbs have undergone a renaissance as a result of the lockdowns. Villages are alive, and during the day those on coffee breaks inhabit the picnic tables set up for this purpose while after dark local eateries are thriving. Closer to the city, they also offer a shorter commute. Oak Park homes on Kinsealy Lane are just a 10-minute walk to Malahide Castle where the grounds and Avoca café are both big draws. This is a small, brand new Richmond Homes scheme of just 55 homes with 12 coming to the market shortly through Savills. Nine of these are three-bedroom houses of 114 sq m (1,227sq ft). Of the three four-beds, two are detached with 176sq m (1,894sq ft) and one is semi-detached with 137sq m (1,475sq ft).

Kinsealy Woods is a continuation of the popular O’Flynn development being sold through Lisney. Next door to the 91 original units, this development will consist of 120 houses in the grounds of the 18th-century Kinsealy House. Featuring two-, three- and four-bedroom homes with large gardens, extensive public open space, a children’s playground and a crèche, some 25 homes are expected next month with three-beds of 105sq m (1,130sq ft)from about €480,000 and four-beds of 157sq m (1,690sq ft) from about €600,000.

Farther south, in old Portmarnock, phase three of Skylark at St Marnock’s Bay, with a direct 25-minute train journey time to the city centre, brings 21 three and four-bedroom homes to the market. The three-beds with 116sq m (1,249sq ft) will start from €520,000, and the four-beds with 132sq m (1,421sq ft) from €645,000.

Down at The Coast in Baldoyle, phase three of Bay View sees 32 three- and four-bedroom homes coming to market at this Richmond Homes development. With a new three-bedroom house style designed by Angeline Ball of Avenue One, it includes a working-from-home hub on its sizeable landing, so home workers don’t have to use their bedrooms as office space, explains the housebuilder’s associate director Nicole Delaney.

Castlethorn have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in the latest phase of St Joseph’s in Clonsilla, Dublin 15. Again, no prices have been given.

In Dublin 18 there will be three-, four- and five-bed houses at Park Developments’ Brennanstown Wood in Cabinteely coming to the market in November through Savills, while Avondale is a small scheme of just five units in Sandyford. Prices are thought to be within the €600,000 to €650,000 bracket for the four four-bed semis of 140sq m (1,507sq ft), with one two-bed plus study detached house of 127sq m (1,367sq ft) also for sale through DNG.

In Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, O’Malley Construction is finishing the final apartment block at Ardilea Crescent where there are good-sized two-beds from €525,000 and three-beds from €595,000 extending to more than 100sq m, as well as a small number of penthouses – two-beds from €565,000 and three-beds from €875,000 - selling through Hooke & MacDonald.