‘We want to know when our homes will be completed’

A NUMBER of angry would-be home owners feel they have been left in limbo after delays in completing a new Rathmolyon housing development which is being built by a company headed by RTE star Peter Finn.

Buyers of “Ring Fort” a development by New Ireland Exceptional Homes and MDS Construction Ltd consisting of 16 three- and four-bedroom semi-detached homes in Rathmolyon paid thousands in deposits more than 18 months ago for still do not know when their homes will be ready.

The group was initially told the first phase of the construction for the houses bought off the plans would be completed in the first quarter of this year with the second phase due to be finished in Q2.

Further delays pushed the deadline back to September and now exasperated buyers have been told it will be well into next year by the time their homes will be ready to move into.

TV personality Peter Finn who stars in RTÉ's home renovation show 'Home Rescue' is one of the managing directors of the construction company building the development.

Buyers are now calling for clarity.

One buyer who asked not to be named paid a €5,000 holding deposit in May 2021 for a three-bedroom home off the plans costing €275,000.

She is currently renting with her young daughter and is terrified of being evicted before her home is ready. She says she wants answers.

"I was so happy to find a house that I could finally make a home for my daughter. She started secondary school in September and I had promised her we would be in it by then. I had even organised her bus ticket. Now I do not know when will see the inside of the house.

"We want to know when it will be finished. It seems to be pushed out further and further, when will it end?

"My solicitor has tried to get more information to the extent that I have been offered my deposit back twice basically saying if she isn't happy to wait, tell her she can have her deposit back.

"At that point, I was told the delay was down to covid, Ukraine, inflation, Irish Water, ESB and material shortages. I'm at the end of my tether.

"Because you have put down your deposit, you haven't considered other homes, you have missed opportunities that you might have considered. The market is constantly evolving and you are stuck in this limbo."

The potential home owner is on her third mortgage loan offer and is concerned the repeated delays will have financial implications.

"When our loan offers start to expire are we going to be subject to different lending criteria? I'm constantly on edge waiting for the banks to say their fixed terms are all going up. There's just so much fear there of the unknown."

"I visit the site regularly and to me it looks like they only have contractors in on Fridays and Saturdays.

"There are no driveways, no roads, no fences, some of them don't have the heat pumps installed yet."

Another buyer says she is under pressure to move out of the rented property where she is currently living.

"My landlord is waiting for me to move out of the house as he wants to sell it and I can't give him any answers as to when that might be," she said. I could be homeless any day. We can't plan our lives; I feel it has become a nightmare.

"The cost of my rent is double a mortgage payment and how much are we going to end up paying when all of these interest rates go up? I'm on my second my loan offer and that expires in Mid-December and every time the lender carries out a valuation on the property so I have to fork out €150 each time.

In a statement to the Meath Chronicle a spokesperson for New Ireland Exceptional Homes and MDS Construction Ltd said: “Correspondence is in the process of being sent via the developers solicitor to all purchasers solicitors with a full project update.

“Houses are still on track for handover Q1 & Q2 depending on the phase.”