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The project is to build a two storey house in Killarney, Co. Kerry
House Owner:
Looking for a site
To get an idea of the location we wanted, we spent many weekend driving around different areas and getting a feel for the locations, this is when we all agreed that we liked Killarney.
If you have a family there is not just one person to please when looking for a site for your new home, you have to consider everyone’s opinion and all other factors that come into account. These are;
- Location - the most important factor.
- Budget - how much do you have to spend on your land.
- Schools - are there any schools in the area or will you have to travel .
- Church - is there a church in your area or will you have a distance to travel.
- Shops - is there a local shop and Post Office within walking distance.
Every family has their own needs, we have different generations living together so all of the above were important to us.
We are not a family who likes to be in the town so we started to look in the mountain area both towards Cork and around Killarney. It was at this point that it was time to get an idea of the price of the area’s so that we didn’t fall in love with a location and find that it was out of our budget . It is very important not to let your heart rule your head because if you can’t control your budget at this stage your whole project could get out of your hand.
At the auctioneers we were pleased to see that there were a few sites within our budget, some with sea view and others with mountain view and as we already live by the sea we decided to go for the views of the mountain.
Do not always take the point of view of the auctioneers about whether a site is good or bad as there is the possibility of difference of opinion. What they consider as good might be unsuitable to you and what they may not like could end up being just what you were looking for and this turned out to be the situation with us. If it is within your budget and an area that you want, take the time out to check it out and come to your own conclusions.
After looking at several site over several months and having difference of opinion within the family about each one of them, we all agreed on this site the moment we saw it.
The phone call was made straight away to the auctioneer and we put in an offer under the asking price, ten minute later a call came back with a comprise price we were all happy with and we bought the land subject to planning permission being granted. This meant that if we couldn’t get full planning permission on the site the deposit would be returned to us in full.
We then went to see our solicitor with the details of the person selling the site and to leave our deposit. This is the stage when you should have a good solicitor who you know will not mess you around with the paper work and is working in your best interest.
Now that we had found the site next came the design of our house. Of course we had already got some ideas but having ideas and getting them past the planning department is two different things. We got an engineer and talked about what ideas we had and he suggested that we should first talk to the local planning engineer and see what would be acceptable with them. So as soon as possible we got an appointment and ask his opinion on what style of building he would allow for our site. With ideas in hand we then talked to our engineer and came up with a design. Once again we took the design back to the local planning engineer and asked if he would like us to change any aspects of the design for which there was no objection with him at this time subject to the remaining conditions.
Our engineer then put notices in the local newspaper stating that we were planning to build a house on this land. This allowed us 14 days to hand the plans in to the planning office . There was lots of paper work that had to be handed in with the application and a fee of €65 to cover costs. At this time we also put our notice up on the site with a drawing of the house so that if anyone had any objections to the design they had time to put the objection to the planning office.
After three long months of waiting we got our reply, there were a few more questions that needed answering about the site, so we weren’t out of the woods yet. We know that this can go on for months even years so once again a visit to the planning engineer was called for. All of the questions were answered and three months after the revised application was put in we got full planning permission.
The whole process from when we found the site until the permission was granted took just under one year.
We went back to our Solicitor paid the balance of the money and at long last the site was ours.
Go to :
Start of the build , The Walls , The walls and upstairs floor , The Roof
The Roof 2 , Internal Insulation , Heating & Plumbing
Kerry Home
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