Thousands facing a future living in unfinished estates...
TENS of thousands of homeowners face the prospect of living in unfinished estates for the foreseeable future.
Construction bosses admitted yesterday that incomplete developments may never be finished.
Cash-strapped builders can't get loans to tidy off their estates and now heavily mortgaged families will be forced to remain there without proper roads, footpaths, green spaces and public lights.
Former president of An Taisce Eanna Ni Lamhna, who is still an active member, told the Irish Independent that the state's heritage body had long warned of the effect of half-built houses on the landscape.
"It doesn't give me any pleasure to say that if they'd listened to An Taisce, we wouldn't be in the situation we're in now with all these houses," she said.
"I must say that we've been saying for years that it was too much too soon. I was told that I was against development and we were against everything -- look what they've done to the country now."
Yesterday, the Irish Home Builders Association (IHBA) claimed that some of its members were being forced to sell properties below cost.
But the IHBA conceded that while prices have fallen by more than 40pc for units in some developments, many builders are still making a profit.
Maplewood Homes, which is building homes at the Paddocks in Adamstown, Co Dublin, has dropped the price of a two-bed apartment by 43pc to €185,000 today from €325,000 in 2006.
But the developer says that even with the reduced price, he was still making money, which shows just how much house-builders made during the boom.
The builders' profits will come as little consolation to homeowners who bought expensive properties at multiples of today's prices but who could find themselves living in unfinished estates.
The IHBA, which represents 1,500 companies, said that work on completing many schemes was not proceeding and that unless banks started lending, the situation would remain the same for the foreseeable future.
There are no official figures on the number of unfinished housing estates across the country. Last year a survey by the Irish Independent showed that at least 1,100 housing estates were completed but had not yet been taken in charge by local authorities.
Councils had refused to take over the running of the estates because they were often not built to the standard required in the planning permission.
"There's no doubt there is an issue. In some instances, work to conclude those schemes is stalled at the moment," an IHBA spokesman said.
"The re-commencement of the work will be based on a commercial decision. It will be based on capital from the banks. Where you have portions of an estate not finished, there will have to be working capital which developers just can't get, they've run out of cash."
Completions
The Construction Industry Federation Housing Review and Outlook published yesterday also shows that in the last three years, Leitrim had the highest number of house completions per head of population than any other county in Ireland.
Leitrim had 91 houses built per 1,000 population -- almost three times more houses than were completed in Wicklow (31) and Dublin (33), with much of the housing boom driven by tax breaks.
Last night Alex Brett, spokesman for Maplewood Developments, which has dropped the price of its units at Adamstown by as much as 43pc, said prices can go no lower.
"We are not selling at below construction cost levels, but it's got to the stage that if there were any more price reductions, you would be selling for less than the cost of building the house, that makes no sense."
Report by Paul Melia and Colin Gleeson - Irish Independent
TENS of thousands of homeowners face the prospect of living in unfinished estates for the foreseeable future.
Construction bosses admitted yesterday that incomplete developments may never be finished.
Cash-strapped builders can't get loans to tidy off their estates and now heavily mortgaged families will be forced to remain there without proper roads, footpaths, green spaces and public lights.
Former president of An Taisce Eanna Ni Lamhna, who is still an active member, told the Irish Independent that the state's heritage body had long warned of the effect of half-built houses on the landscape.
"It doesn't give me any pleasure to say that if they'd listened to An Taisce, we wouldn't be in the situation we're in now with all these houses," she said.
"I must say that we've been saying for years that it was too much too soon. I was told that I was against development and we were against everything -- look what they've done to the country now."
Yesterday, the Irish Home Builders Association (IHBA) claimed that some of its members were being forced to sell properties below cost.
But the IHBA conceded that while prices have fallen by more than 40pc for units in some developments, many builders are still making a profit.
Maplewood Homes, which is building homes at the Paddocks in Adamstown, Co Dublin, has dropped the price of a two-bed apartment by 43pc to €185,000 today from €325,000 in 2006.
But the developer says that even with the reduced price, he was still making money, which shows just how much house-builders made during the boom.
The builders' profits will come as little consolation to homeowners who bought expensive properties at multiples of today's prices but who could find themselves living in unfinished estates.
The IHBA, which represents 1,500 companies, said that work on completing many schemes was not proceeding and that unless banks started lending, the situation would remain the same for the foreseeable future.
There are no official figures on the number of unfinished housing estates across the country. Last year a survey by the Irish Independent showed that at least 1,100 housing estates were completed but had not yet been taken in charge by local authorities.
Councils had refused to take over the running of the estates because they were often not built to the standard required in the planning permission.
"There's no doubt there is an issue. In some instances, work to conclude those schemes is stalled at the moment," an IHBA spokesman said.
"The re-commencement of the work will be based on a commercial decision. It will be based on capital from the banks. Where you have portions of an estate not finished, there will have to be working capital which developers just can't get, they've run out of cash."
Completions
The Construction Industry Federation Housing Review and Outlook published yesterday also shows that in the last three years, Leitrim had the highest number of house completions per head of population than any other county in Ireland.
Leitrim had 91 houses built per 1,000 population -- almost three times more houses than were completed in Wicklow (31) and Dublin (33), with much of the housing boom driven by tax breaks.
Last night Alex Brett, spokesman for Maplewood Developments, which has dropped the price of its units at Adamstown by as much as 43pc, said prices can go no lower.
"We are not selling at below construction cost levels, but it's got to the stage that if there were any more price reductions, you would be selling for less than the cost of building the house, that makes no sense."
Report by Paul Melia and Colin Gleeson - Irish Independent