‘We are stuck in this limbo, it is a living nightmare’

DELAYS Buyers of 16 homes in Rathmolyon paid thousands in deposits, some more than three years ago, and still do not know when their homes will be ready

Furious would be home owners who thought they would be living in the house of their dreams this year say they have been left angry, stressed and defeated by ongoing construction delays.

Buyers of ‘Ring Fort’ a development by Meathamatics Ltd consisting of 16 three- and four-bedroom semi-detached homes in Rathmolyon paid thousands in deposits, some more than three years ago and still do not know when their homes will be ready.

Exasperated buyers say the hold up in completing the housing estate has them in limbo after work was brought to a halt and the site was locked up a number of weeks ago.

The group was initially told the first phase of the construction for the houses bought off the plans would be completed in early 2022 with the second phase due to be finished in later the same year.

Further delays pushed the deadline back to 2023 and almost one year after last speaking out about the situation, they are no closer to being home owners.

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 a property with her young daughter and is terrified of being evicted before her home is ready.

“We are stuck in this limbo, it is a living nightmare,” she said.

“Your whole life is put on hold waiting for this and you can’t move forward.”

“We feel we have been just left in the dark.”

“About a month ago they just locked up the site, we have had very little communication. We received an email stating that the company was in financial difficulty so they might not have the money to finish the estate.”

Last week buyers received a letter stating that the development had “run into significant difficulty” and proposed a meeting to see if a “mutually beneficial” solution could be found for all parties.

“It sounds like they are trying to renegotiate the cost of the houses which we agreed in our contracts,” said the buyer.

“One of the buyers pulled out and they sold that house on for 60k to 70k more than the rest of us had paid.”

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

“There are risks to mortgages not proceeding, loan offers expire after six months, you go through the process again, interest rates have shot up.

One buyer says she and her partner were forced to pull out of the sale after a “horrendous” two years left her mental health in tatters.

“It has been devastating for the whole family, we thought we had found our forever home,” she said. “I haven’t stopped crying but we felt we could no longer go on living this nightmare,”she added.

The mum-of-two says she couldn’t take the risk of missing another house that came up for sale within her budget.

“We had to weigh it up and say do we sit back and fight this but we don’t have time on our side but unfortunately we had to make the decision.

“I don’t know if there is going to be another house that will come up within our budget, we are left in no man’s land.”

Another buyer “couldn’t believe her luck” when she secured a house in her local village in 2020 but now says she wishes they never had anything to do with the development.

“We signed contracts, we handed over deposits, everything was done in good faith,” she said. “As recently as December we got a letter to say we’d be in our house in March. The local woman believes money is being put before the 16 families who are left without homes.

“ This isn’t a bad news story anymore this is our lives, this is our future, this is impacting every waking moment,” she said.

“That estate was approved for Help to Buy Scheme for the HBFI (Home Building Finance Ireland) and that is a one time thing that people can draw down and now the houses aren’t even going to be completed?”

Whilst politicians and government bodies have acknowledged the group’s plight for resolution, they say action now needs to be taken.

“We don’t need anyone’s sympathy anymore, we need help, we need support, we need engagement. It’s all well and good saying we are sorry but they will be sorrier next year when we are on housing lists because people are homeless.”

Aontú Cllr Emer Tóibín had been acting as a mediator between the developer and the buyers but plans for a meeting fell at the last hurdle as she explains:

“I am extremely disappointed that the public meeting in the Aontú office in Navan did not go ahead.

“There has to be commitment from the developer to agree on a cut off date from which time a resolution to this needs to be found.

“The developer has to deal with people he sold houses to. These are all young families, they want to get on with their lives.”

A spokesperson for Meathamatics Ltd said:

“The company is suffering a significant financial situation due to matters outside of its control - including significant delays and spiralling costs.

“We are in discussions with all parties to find reasonable solutions.”

Meath Co Council has been also been contacted for comment.