Housing issues threaten to thwart moves to reinvigorate the west

Abaigéal Warfield and her husband Oisín O’Malley used to have hens and grow their own vegetables “even when living in a semi-d in Leixlip”.

Having returned from Australia to their native Kildare in 2018, the couple seemed destined to buy a home within the Dublin commuter belt.

But then Covid-19 struck. Mr O’Malley, an IT consultant, started working remotely, while Ms Warfield, a historian, had already changed career and founded a yoga school, Dragonfly Yoga.

Her father died in March 2020. “When you go through a loss like that you re-evaluate things and ask what kind of life you want to live.”

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Their first child is due next month and they now live outside Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo in a 150-year-old farmhouse on two acres, with a small orchard, two polytunnels and a hen run.

With a purchase price of €82,000, they fared better financially than many who have moved west recently, because they kept away from more sought-after locations.

“Oisín used to spend three hours on the train when he went to the Dublin office,” Ms Warfield said. “I think a lot of people re-evaluated because of Covid.

“We don’t miss the traffic jams. We have new hobbies: gardening and growing vegetables. I have potatoes and onions and rocket and spinach and lavender plants.”

Pushing prices up

Because they moved during lockdown there has been little opportunity to get to know neighbours, but participating in a six-month development programme for female entrepreneurs in rural areas, Accelerating the Creation of Rural Nascent Start-ups, has helped.

Many employees are now wondering if their bosses will soon be beckoning them back to offices in cities.

A recent national survey by NUI Galway and the Western Development Commission found 95 per cent of workers favour some form of remote working, but 75 per cent of employers have not yet decided how to manage staff post-Covid-19. Most who have decided favour a mix of onsite and home working.

Adding to workers’ uncertainty about the future is the fact that housing shortages are pushing prices up, especially in scenic locations.

Padraic White from Leitrim is a former IDA Ireland chief executive and chairman of recruitment company Collins McNicholas. Unless the housing issue is resolved, “the best opportunity in decades” to reinvigorate the west might be lost, he said.

“I read every week in the Leitrim Observer about issues with one-off housing. If we won’t allow people to build in the countryside then what are we offering?”

Sarah Kearns, from Kinlough, Co Leitrim, lived in Dublin for five years but she and partner Ethan McGloin agreed before the pandemic that their future lay in the northwest.

Their recent move meant they halved their rent from €1,200 a month for a one-bedroom apartment in Clontarf to €600 for a “beautiful four-bedroom house with front and back gardens” in Kinlough.

“We have a patio for barbecues. We don’t know ourselves,” said Ms Kearns, working from home in her new role as a marketing executive with Sligo Credit Union while Mr McGloin, an electrical engineer, now works for a company based in Carrick-on-Shannon.

The pair are getting married in November and appreciate the “handy commute” when they do go to the office.

“You are actually driving, not stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, and the scenery is so nice. There’s no stress, no one beeping at you, no road rage,” Ms Kearns said.

Kayaking and hiking are now regular pastimes but house hunting has proved “a bit scary”.

Six months ago, they spotted a three-bedroom house on half an acre advertised for €180,000, but when Ms Kearns rang the auctioneer an offer of €280,000 had already been made.

They also looked at a “derelict” cottage they considered buying as a “project house” to do up over time. The guide price was €120,000 but it sold for €325,000.

Lorraine Higgins, a Screen Ireland executive, realised a long-held dream to move home to Galway from Dublin in October 2020.

The pandemic prompted her to apply for a transfer to the Galway office. She was “really lucky” to find a small studio apartment in the city for €700 a month, but buying is not an option.

‘Heartbreaking’

“I was hoping to buy or build but I have given up. It is heartbreaking. All I could afford on my salary is a log cabin.”

Even with the offer of a site on family land, “the price of building has gone through the roof”.

Sligo-based estate agent Thomas Breheny has seen prices soar in sought-after areas like Strandhill, Rosses Point, north Sligo and Sligo town.

Mr Breheny, managing director of the Oates Breheny Group, said: “There is no doubt that Covid has been good for Sligo. People are enjoying the quality of life, the good schools, the scenery, but demand [for houses] is exceeding supply”.

“What happened with Covid was that people brought forward what had been a five-year or a 10-year plan. They expedited their move,” he said.

“Since 2008/2009 there hasn’t been more than 100 units built in the county on greenfield site developments.”

But it is not all bad news with a number of new developments in the pipeline, and houses available at affordable prices if people are flexible about location, he stressed.

Antoinette O’Flaherty, director of Collins McNicholas Recruitment, said many companies, including her own with 50 employees, are trying to figure out how to accommodate employees post-lockdown.

“It depends on what stage of life people are at. There is no one size that fits all.”

Lewis Clarke and his wife Sarah, who is originally from Sligo, moved from Warwickshire in England last year with their two children, after buying a house in Sligo town.

The couple both work from home as project managers, he for a tech start-up and she for a medical devices company .

Selling a house in Britain and buying in Ireland during lockdown was not without its stresses.

“We couldn’t fly over to view the house in Sligo as we would have had to isolate for two weeks but my parents-in-law viewed it and made a video on the phone to show us.”

Mr Clarke said his wife recently asked him if he believed they had made the right move. “I was out kayaking on Lough Gill at 6.30 this morning,” was his response.