House of the week: Ballinlough, Cork €285,000

Size: Sq m 100 (1,100 sq ft)

Homes can be like the human body — in need of TLC, surgery and even joint replacement. If done right, there’s a fresh spring in the step, and decades more good health to be enjoyed.

That’s the case at 7, Belmont, in Cork’s Ballinlough — an older, settled suburb that has itself greyed at the temples, thinned out on top and is undergoing a bit of a renewal in its own quiet way.