Size isn't everything: Tiny Cork City pad could be a good fit despite recent planning refusal

No 9B St John's Mews is 33 sq m and was built in the 1980s by the National Building Agency (NBA). Rules now say 37 sq m is a minimum size for studio apartments. Cork City Hall has refused planning for three small 'over the shop' studios at 64 St Patrick's  Street

€179k apartment 9B St John's Mews was built in the 1980s by the NBA and is just 350 sq ft. Agents Frank V Murphy & Co says it's bright and...spacious.

Douglas Street, Cork City Centre
€179,000
Size	33 sq m (350 sq ft)
Bedrooms	1
Bathrooms	1
BER	E1

 CORK City Council very recently refused planning permission for three upstairs studio apartments at the corner building at 64 St Patrick Street as they were under the recommended 37 sq m minimum floor area size for apartments.

Planning permission for apartments at the upper floors of 64 Patrick St has been refused.

The decision was criticised in some quarters at a time of housing shortage and given the unique character and constraints of the early 1900s St Patrick’s Buildings property.

Well, here’s one built before those size guidelines and it’s No 9B, St John’s Mews, on the same city’s Douglas Street, weighing in at just 33 sqm, or 350 sq ft.

Newly-fitted kitchen

The one-bed top floor apartment is one of 14 built by the National Building Agency in the mid-1980s as part of an urban renewal initiative, and a number have been sold and resold ever since.

Dual aspect

No 9B is listed with a €179,000 AMV by agents Frank V Murphy & Co, who note it has just been upgraded and refitted and they describe it as bright and spacious…these things being relative?

The Price Register shows it selling in 2021 for €135,000, before being freshened up. Now, it’s clean and tidy, the new kitchen still has the stickers on the appliances and it’s pitched at investors, FTBs and perhaps as a city bolthole/downsizer.

Interior at 9B St John's Mews

VERDICT: good things in small packages and all that.