Affordable homes in Kildare target first-time buyers

Martin Lydon of Grandbrind is chasing the first-time buyer market with his first development outside Dublin, Oaktree on Tully Road on the outskirts of Kildare town.

The second-generation developer has followed his father, also Martin, into the business and between them have built more than 2,000 houses since the company was formed in 1977.

Located outside Kildare town, a 30-minute train commute from Heuston Station, and on the edge of the M7, the development is aimed at the first-time buyer market, says Lydon, who last year paid €5 million for the site with full planning for 164 homes.

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The key attraction for Lydon was that it enabled them to build and sell houses at an affordable level. “The price points mean that most first-time-buyers will be able to qualify for a mortgage with this product, especially with the help-to-buy scheme which we’ve signed up to.”

The emphasis at Oaktree is on quality at an affordable price. The smartly built A3-rated houses, mainly three-bed semis in phase one, offer 2.7m (9ft) ceiling heights, decent-sized utility rooms, built-in wardrobes and en suite bathrooms, with windows as standard, and cost from €250,000 for a three-bed semi of 112 sq m (1,205sq ft).

Side-entry house

One of the house styles available in this first phase of 29 properties is what the agents DNG call the "side-entry house". With a dual-aspect living room and separate eat-in kitchen, these seem like the best buy for their light-filled rooms.

When finished the estate will comprise three- and four-bed semi-detached and detached houses.

The estate is situated close to the M7 motorway and even when the triple-glazed windows are closed, the hum of the heavy traffic is discernible, but the landscaping, which will include sound-softening banks, has not yet been completed.

The estate is close to the National Stud and Japanese Gardens, and designer outlet shopping mall Kildare Village is across the road.

Seven of the 29 homes are already sold. There is one three-bed detached house, 114sq m (1,227sq ft), asking €285,000 and one four-bed semi, 133sq m (1431sq ft), also asking €285,000.