Residents are at ‘wits end’ over when they can move into homes

PROSPECTIVE residents who have been left in the dark over when they can move into their homes are at their “wits’ end” and have called for action from the developer and Irish Water.

19 purchasers of the new Cornerpark development in Newcastle are waiting for Irish Water to make the necessary connections to the water supply lines before they can move in.

The purchasers, a lot of whom are families, have paid deposits on these houses which cost in the range of €330,000 and €360,000.

They paid deposits on these homes in 2020 and some were lead to believe that they would be ready to move into by July of that year in a best case scenario.

This did not materialise, and today the houses superficially appear to be completed.

According to the purchasers, they have recently been informed by the developer Alanna Homes that the plan was to connect these houses to existing water main pipes on the Peamount Road.

When construction was completed, the developer was informed by the State utility that this option was no longer viable “due to the fact that there was an infrastructure upgrade needed”.

All the while, this has caused quite an issue for the prospective residents, many of which are paying costs to live in temporary accommodation in the interim.

On top of that, some of the purchasers are first time buyers and are in the process of applying for mortgage application renewals for a third time to accommodate the delay.

The Echo was told that some purchasers are commuting from the Northside of Dublin to drop and collect children to school in Newcastle.

They claim that they have been “left completely in the dark” over the last year, with updates coming few and far between.

In the most recent update from Alanna Homes, the residents were told that the developer “has put an alternative in place but Irish Water are refusing to connect” without permission from the two adjoining landowners that are accommodating the piping.

When contacted by The Echo, Irish Water said that they are waiting on the developer to secure permission.

“For this development Irish Water is ready to facilitate connection to the site as soon as the developer can confirm they have secured the relevant permissions from other site owners to connect through their sites,” a spokesperson for Irish Water said.

Irish Water failed to comment on the alleged infrastructure upgrade works to Peamount Road aspect of the query.

“We cannot understand how we find ourselves in such a position so late on in the purchasing process,” a purchaser told The Echo.

“The houses that we were promised we would be in by July 2020 are now completely at the mercy of the third party adjoining landowners, we have no idea when this paper work will be sorted.”

Alanna Homes were contacted for comment.