Wexford developers are doing their bit to create more housing stock
WHITEROCK Hill, Crosstown and Mulgannon are a few of the areas with developments under way in Wexford Town and in Gorey, two developments on either side of the town are planning expansion. Together with several other developments currently in planning, there are potentially nearly 500 new houses being built in these two centres alone over the next couple of years.
Kearney & Co. are delighted to be involved with two of these schemes, Ard Uisce in Wexford and Gleann an Ghairdin in Gorey, both by Wexford Low Energy Homes, whose name provides a clue to the appeal of all these new homes.
The era of cold draughty houses costing a fortune to heat is well and truly over and one has to wonder as to why it took the climate change crisis and the need to reduce wasteful energy usage for us to create this new style of home, wonderfully snug and even more importantly, cheap to run.
We all love the romance of an open fire but it reality, it requires a large gap in your roof, which makes no sense at all! We also know by now that stoves are four times as efficient if you still want a central heat source in the room but in fact, the energy rating of these new houses is such that you no longer require any supplementary heating at all.
Secondly, the use of solar panels integrated into your energy supply reduces your daily running costs significantly also. Sunshine is free and whilst we may not be quite in Spain, let’s make the most of our advantage down here in the ‘Sunny South East’.
Personally, based on my experience of these new homes, I have put my money where my mouth is by upgrading my own heating systems and adding solar panels at home and I have to say we are all delighted by the improvements in warmth and reduction in costs.
So, are these houses much more expensive, I hear you ask. Well, there is no doubt that brand new A rated homes do cost a bit more than their second hand equivalent, but the truth is they will more than pay their way over their lifetime.
Which brings me to another new feature of some of these homes, their lifetime adaptability. In each new development, a percentage of the houses have to be built with the ability to be easily transformed into a lifetime home. In Ard Uisce, for example, the three-bedroom semi-detached houses have an option whereby the wardrobe space upstairs sits directly above the hall closet downstairs. This space can then be easily transformed into a lift allowing for people to remain in their houses even when their legs aren’t so good.
So, all in all, there is going to be a lot of activity in the Wexford property market in 2018.
So much so that Kearney & Co. have opened a satellite office in Gorey to help with demand there and taken on a local man, Brian D’Arcy with excellent property market experience to support their existing Auctioneers. Onward and upward, Loch Garman abú!