Bargains in the basement

THINGS are looking down in the Irish property market. That’s not a gloomy forecast — it is merely an observation that maybe the time has come to build basements.

One of the many ironies of the building boom here is that it is easier for a developer to get planning for hundreds of houses than it is for a family to get approval for a one-off home. Another is it probably as easy to get approval for a landmark’ or ‘gateway’ tower of 16 floors of apartments as it is to be allowed to build a house taller than dormer, floor-and-a-half status.

The Canadian owner (and designer) of 3 The Hermitage in Glanmire, which is guiding at €675,000, was faced with the dormer dilemma when building his family home a few years ago. He managed to get a 2,200 sq ft house on a one-third of an acre site just off the old main Cork-Dublin road in Glanmire — but he also managed to build this timber-framed home on top of a highly usable 650 sq ft basement.