New homes: Hot topics to consider in new versus old builds
Buying a new-build home over purchasing a second-hand, older one makes sense for a variety of reasons.One, everything is shiny and new.Buyers can get assistance under various support mechanisms – like Help to Buy and First Home Scheme (as covered elsewhere within this special report).New builds have to achieve an A-grade building energy rating (BER), so typically they are more energy efficient, cost less to run, and buyers can avail of lower ‘green’ rate mortgages.Against a background of soaring energy costs due to wars and supply disruptions, and the climate change threats from burning fossil fuels, the move to A-rated homes supported by cleaner energy (we’re getting there, slowly but surely) puts the winds of property market advantage into the sails and sales of builders and developers.Home hunters might still want to balance the attraction of all-new versus perhaps the appeal of moving to an older property in long-settled and well-serviced communities, often within a walk of city attractions.They’ll be weighing factors like convenience and costs – especially if older properties need work, extension or upgrades, especially in a time of sky-rocketed costs – to get your own builders and ‘tradies’ in. Think of a budget of €250,000 now on top of the purchase price to do up a mid-1900s or earlier suburban home.Some 12 years on since BER ratings were introduced, they no longer are a ‘footnote’ on a sale listing, they are up front and centre in many buyers’ priority lists. A and B-rated homes typically sell for 28% more than lower ones, according to research by property valuations company Geowox.With Irish median prices for home sales in Ireland currently hovering around the €389,000 mark according to this month’s CSO figures, there can be a c€95,000 difference based largely on energy performance, though size and setting also count!Notwithstanding this month’s initially perplexing ESRI report which revealed owners of A-rated homes spent nearly as much on energy as occupants of older dwellings did, there’s a huge comfort factor in well-insulated, air-tight, ventilated new builds… Too much comfort, maybe? As explainers for this energy spend ESRI revelation came down to the possibility that A and B-rated home were ‘over-heated’, whilst older, colder ones were ‘under heated,’ perhaps cosied a room at a time rather than across the whole build envelope.It’s not just first-time buyers (FTBs) who are keen on soft-sock sitting and creature comforts: “Interestingly, we are seeing some trader-down buyers entering new home schemes,” says East Cork estate agent Adrianna Hegarty of Hegarty Properties. “Many are opting for two- and three-bedroom homes, looking for something modern, energy efficient and manageable that allows flexibility as they travel more or simplify their lifestyle.”Adrianna Hegarty, owner/director of Hegarty Properties. “Buyers are increasingly conscious of running costs, and the certainty of a new build, both from an energy and maintenance perspective, gives people a lot of confidence,” Ms Hegarty continues, and she highlights an important other reassurance: “It also provides cost certainty, which first-time buyers in particular value, as they know the purchase price upfront rather than entering competitive bidding situations on second-hand homes.” Adding to the mix in some appealing ‘lifestyle’ locations are a cohort of buyers currently living abroad, whether Down Under or in the Middle East/Gulf right now who are planning ahead. “Many are purchasing now to secure a foothold on the coast, using the property as a base when they return to Ireland, with the longer-term intention of retiring there,” says Ms Hegarty.Trading down and trading up options count too in new home developments, be they apartments or large detacheds, with estate agents Savills revealing they have sold over 20 new builds in Cork for sums in excess of €1 million, in the likes of Foxwarren, Douglas, in Earls Well, Waterfall, and on the Model Farm Road and Orchard Road. The autumn 2026 launch of Bridlewood by O’Callaghan Properties on the South Douglas Road (on Whitaker family-owned land) will have a huge appeal to traders up and down: watch these pages.Meanwhile, the ‘Big Daddy’ of all newbuilds will be Savills’s elevated Kinsale town centre launch later this year of seven, very large (think up to 6,000 sq ft over four levels) villa-style homes in Orchard Walk, Convent Garden by Cumnor – think prices of up to and over €5m? Right, that’s ‘only in Kinsale’. For the rest of us, home hunters can expect to see smaller starter homes being built, as minimum sizing regulations have reduced after 2024 national planning design guidance and standards changes, notes agent Suzanne Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing. She points to things like increased density, reductions in rear separation distances from 22 metres to 16 m, and more ‘flexible’ garden layouts, as well as changes to plot width and schemes’ layout ‘flexibility.” “We are seeing shared parking areas, smaller private open spaces and improved facilities to common green spaces to encourage shared use,” she says diplomatically.
