Kinsealy site falls from €19m to €3m

A DEVELOPMENT SITE for about 45 houses at Kinsealy village in north County Dublin, bought at the height of the property boom for €19 million, is back on the market with an asking price of €3 million and “open to offers.”

Northern Ireland housebuilders Taggart Holdings bought the 2.56 hectares (6.32 acres) without planning permission in October 2006, as part of its push into the Republic at a time when the housebuilding industry was thriving. Exactly two years later, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank pulled the plug by appointing PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as receivers to the Taggart group of companies, one of the largest privately-owned property groups on the island. The group held a considerable portfolio of development land in Northern Ireland, the Republic and the UK.

Billy O’Riordan of PwC, who acts as receiver of Taggart Homes (Kinsealy), moved quickly to offload sites held by the company in Kinnegad, Co Westmeath, and Muff, Co Donegal. He also completed the final phase of a large housing estate in Trim, Co Meath, which was sold within a short period.

Ross Shorten of Lisney, who is handling the sale of the Kinsealy site, said he was reasonably confident of finding a buyer soon for the land because of its location, close to Malahide and within three kilometres of the Dart.

The €3 million guide price reflects an 84.2 per cent fall on the price paid for the land in 2006. Land values in more remote areas of the country where there is little demand for new housing estates may well have fallen by an even greater margin.

A Local Area Plan covering the Kinsealy site has set a net density of 15 to 17 houses per hectare but has stipulated that at least 50 per cent of them should be reserved for rural dwellers.

The Fingal Housing Strategy also provides for a 15 per cent developer contribution of the zoned land for social and affordable housing in the Malahide and Kinsealy area.