Astra build on tradition
“It’s about listening to the customer, to the buyer, and to the market,” says long-established builder Stephen McCarthy of Astra Construction, who reckons he’s on course to sell about 30 new houses this year. “And it’s quite an indictment of the collapse in the industry that at that relatively low level of building, we’re still one of the busiest sites anywhere in the country,” he admits ruefully.
Astra’s Forest Hill scheme, on the southern fringes of Carrigaline, is getting buyers from all over the greater Cork area, he reckons, driven mostly by first time buyers, who are frustrated by lack of supply of new homes, (Ruden and Astra are Cork’s most dogged survivors, able to offer fresh stock to today’s building standards). And, while Astra have three-bedroomed B1 rated 1,120 sq ft homes for €195,000, Mr McCarthy says some of the buyers of his detached four and five-beds (1,950 to 2,150 sq ft) homes at €335,000/340,000, are first time buyers also, just in very good jobs.
Right now, he’s creating stock to demand, with some sold prior to building, and this means buyers can make alterations, such as moving doors internally etc, and from next year his stock will be hitting A BER levels too.
So far, the easy-on-the-eye, well-landscaped Forest Hill development has about 150 houses built, and can take about 400. Density is reduced from an initial 480 homes, as the market is for semis and detached units, with terraced housing not in favour, and apartments even less so. The active house builder sees building activity about to recommence in Dublin andreckons Cork will follow suit. Most of Astra’s current crew of about 30 tradesmen have been with the firm for decades, fathers and sons, and “buyers get confidence seeing activity on a site, and we’ve kept our site open and kept on building.” And selling.
Carrigaline, Cork
€195,000-340,000
Sq m 105-200
3-5
3-4
B1
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