Starter homes at nice price near Malahide

Kinsealy/from €189,950: Townhouses, family semis and apartments with interesting lay-outs go on the market today. Bernice Harrison reports.

As would-be first-time buyers know, it's been quite a while since a new apartment development came on the market in Dublin with prices under €200,000. So the price tag of €189,950 is going to be the big selling point for the one-bedroom apartments at Gorse Hill, a new development off Feltrim Road, which is located beside Kinsealy between Swords and Malahide.

On sale through Hamilton Osborne King, the apartments haven't been built yet - buyers will have to buy off the plans - but they will get a good feeling for what they are like by the other Gorse Hill units that are at show house stage.

These range in type from two-bedroom townhouses at €259,950, and three-bedroom houses at €289,950, to much larger four bedroom semi-detached houses from €340,000.

Gorse Hill will have 250 houses and apartments and, while the developer has put a different name on it, the development could be seen as a second phase of Feltrim Manor which sold earlier this year. Access to Gorse Hill is through Feltrim Manor.

At these prices Gorse Hill will appeal to first-time buyers looking for starter homes that are not too far from the city and that have easy access to amenities. That said, Gorse Hill is not going to win any prizes for design, although inside the houses are well laid out. All have back gardens, fitted wardrobes, en suites, as well as downstairs loos and, when the development is complete, it will be made up of short terraces of four or five houses in cul-de-sacs mixed in with three-storey apartment blocks.

The two-bedroom houses, at €259,950, have 76 sq m (818 sq ft) of space. The back gardens measure around 12 metres. To the front there is an eat-in kitchen, to the back is a livingroom with a dining area and patio doors to the back garden. The contemporary-styled fireplaces that are fitted as standard are piped for a gas fire. Upstairs there are two double bedrooms, one with an en suite and there is a family bathroom.

The three-bedroom houses, at €289,950 and 92 sq m (990 sq ft) are more interesting in their layout. Downstairs to the front is the diningroom. This opens into the galley-type kitchen area in the middle of the house and double doors open from this into the livingroom at the back. Upstairs the main bedroom runs the width of the house and has an en suite, and there are two other bedrooms, a small double and a single. The bathroom has a window, something that is not a feature of the bathrooms in the two-bedroom houses. The four bedroom houses, at 115 sq m (1,238 sq ft) from €340,000 are pretty much the same as the three-beds in terms of layout, except that the fourth bedroom is in the attic and there is also an en suite up there.

When the apartment blocks are built they will have two-bedroom duplexes with 61 sq m (657 sq ft) at €239,950 and two-bedroom apartments with 56 sq m (603 sq ft) at €219,950, as well as the low priced €189,950 one-beds which will have 40 sq m (431 sq ft).

Malahide is a short drive away and there are train links from Portmarnock DART station. For people who don't have cars, it's a good walk from the houses and apartments at Gorse Hill out to Feltrim Road. Shops will be built as part of the development and there is also a site for a national school.

The development is by Albany Homes. Showhouses are on view this weekend.