The Lough, Cork €500,000

You have to look beyond the existing house at 34 Hartlands Road to see where the €500k value is: it’s in the back garden.

This dated and tired dormer bungalow, Lough View, at No 34 blocks access to a prime quarter acre plot behind, which could take a couple of new-builds.

Knock the existing house, develop the grounds and then replace/reinstate the current home with another - and you could get three houses in this popular setting by the city amenity feature that is the Lough, on the doorstep of UCC and major hospitals too.

In all, No 34 has a total site area of 0.373 of an acre, and backs onto the houses on St Finbarr’s Park. And, for the right buyer, there may even be a larger picture here for niche development, as between the garden/site of No 34 and the walkway around the Lough is a further site, of possibly over half an acre, but with limited access.

No 34 could open up access to this cleared site. If that site’s owner doesn’t jump on this site, a joint approach or offer to buy it out might make sense, and allow something rather different and tasty to be inserted into this quite special setting. Current zoning in the city’s development plan is residential.

VERDICT: Now that builders are back on the prowl for sites, this Lough area offer should stimulate interest, as there’d be strong market demand for homes here.