Bandon scheme off to successful start

THERE'S been a swift and predominantly local uptake for the launch of almost 90 new homes in Bandon, West Cork.

Forty-one of the 89 homes to be built at Forestbrook Developments' scheme Thornfields were launched last weekend, and half have been already booked, with sons and daughters of local families to the fore, say Suzanne Tyrrell and Jackie Cohalan of Cohalan Downing auctioneers.

New house building in this prosperous town was stalled, or kept to a low level, since the mid-1990s, as tax incentive designation saw first Clonakilty, and then Skibbereen, tap into the housing boom.

Bandon surprisingly lagged behind its rival towns further to the west for a number of years, but the tide is turning.

Just over a year ago John Fleming Construction launched RoseWood, a development of 90 houses on the Cork side of the town, with just a handful left to sell through agents Cahalane Skuse.

That Fleming development, with eight house types, was built with steel frame construction - in contrast, Forestbrook's houses are timber frame, with an outer concrete leaf and rendered finish.

Thornfields, three-quarters of a mile from Bandon town centre at Kilbrogan, is essentially a mix of semis and townhouses, with three detached homes to be offered in later phases.

Prices are relatively keen, starting at €190,000 for three-bed townhouses (mid-terrace) of 936 sq feet, and semis are €215,00 (960 sq ft) and €220,000 (1,024 sq ft.). Unusually, in a design shift from the repetitive norm, several varieties of each type have kitchens to the front and main reception area to the back, a reverse of the standard floor plan.

Each type has guest WC, one en suite bedroom and main bathroom, gas central heating, open fire in the main reception, and double glazing.