Church land gives buyers the answer

Last week, Catherine Martin, Green Party deputy leader and TD for Dublin Rathdown, said the sales were bringing “to the fore the issue of educational planning in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown”. “It is a stark indication of a lack of future planning and joined-up thinking on the part of the Department of Education and Skills. The community and their future needs are not being put first,” she said.

Green Party councillor Ossian Smyth said: “It would be wrong to punish the current and future generations of children at Clonkeen College for the sins perpetrated by the Christian Brothers on a previous generation. The religious should now transfer their lands directly to the state and should not try to profiteer, while seeking forgiveness for their past behaviour.”

The reasons for the sales by religious orders vary: dwindling congregation numbers mean their incomes have reduced; dwindling vocations mean they no longer need rambling piles and some are paying reparations for past abuses.

The sale of religious orders’ property can be less contentious when there is no school involved. Ballyboden St Enda’s GAA Club, for example, is to buy 12 acres of land next to the Carmelite monastery on Firhouse Road to add two new senior pitches. It sits right next to Scoil Carmel primary, but the land has always been closed to the public.

In many of the cases, however, land is sold to developers with a view to building on infill sites. Some work better than others. The old Mount Argus monastery and adjoining lands in Harold’s Cross, Dublin, were originally owned by the Passionists. Developer New Generation Homes secured planning permission for 184 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in buildings ranging from three to five storeys, and work is well under way.

The site will include a community building for the Passionist Order, as well as landscaping to the River Poddle. There were some objections to the development, but Dublin city council granted planning permission.

Ken MacDonald, of estate agency Hooke and MacDonald, who handled the Mount Argus sale, says this is an example of how this kind of arrangement can work well. “The building became too large for the priests and the land was surplus to their requirements,” he says. “They were able to use the funds from the sale to construct a home for ageing priests. It is the ideal scenario.”

Similar sites have changed hands in the capital in recent years, though most have yet to see any development. On Dublin’s north side, New Generation Homes reportedly paid more than €25m for playing pitches next to St Paul’s College, in Raheny.

The Vincentians, which owns St Paul’s, decided to sell about half of its sports grounds — 15 acres — for housing. In 2015, the developer applied for permission to build 356 houses and apartments, but has since withdrawn the proposal. The same developer secured permission in 2015 to build 209 apartments on the site of the St Clare’s Convent in Harold’s Cross.

In April, Balark Investments — headed by Greg Kavanagh, formerly of New Generation Homes — secured permission to build 63 homes (nine houses, 24 duplexes and 30 apartments) on a former monastery site, once owned by the Christian Brothers, at Oatlands College in Mount Merrion.

There has been no shortage of interest among buyers in homes on these sites when they have come to market; for developers, they can offer land of a type and size that is hard to get hold of within the city environs.

“Generally speaking, these properties are in good locations, with those in Dublin very much sought after,” says MacDonald, adding that the sale of unused religious-owned lands can be useful in built-up areas where there is a strong demand for housing.

Brian Dempsey, of DNG Stillorgan, says anything that results in more housing has to be a good thing. “We are always meeting older people who would downsize to something more manageable in a heartbeat, but there’s nothing there.”

Ronan Lyons, economist with Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie price reports agrees. “I'm not sure the local authorities or the wider public appreciate fully just how understocked the city is, particularly when it comes to apartments, and the kinds of apartments in suburbs used for downsizing.”

Lyons points to Central Statistics Office figures, which show that one- and two-person households account for more than half of all households in Ireland, yet there is “only about half that in terms of dwellings that suit one or two people.”

“We end up with empty-nesters in homes far bigger than their needs. Many don’t want to stay, but they don’t get any option. These sites are in areas where property values are high. They are an opportunity to build accommodation that makes people want to downsize.”

Dempsey says the ability to make a real difference to the housing market comes down to planners and developers — and whether they build the right homes. “A lot of the houses being built are three- storey, which don’t suit older people.”

One scheme on land formerly owned by a religious group is Marianella, in Rathgar, which is almost ready for launch. Situated on the grounds of the Redemptorists, at Orwell Road, the land was sold to Cairn Homes for €40m in 2015.

The development has 200 apartments and 12 five-bedroom semi-detached houses. About a third of the apartments and nearly half of the houses have been sold. Buyers can expect to pay upwards of €500,000 for the two-bedroom apartments and €1.5m for the houses.

Neil Hughes, of agent Knight Frank, calls Marianella a “real success story”. Between 2,000 and 3,000 potential buyers have registered interest. “We’ve had a lot of interest from residents in Dublin 6 who are looking to trade down, and there are also locals interested in purchasing apartments to let,” he says.