Wanted: your back garden to build on - will pay €300,000

HIS name is Brendan. He comes from Bray. And he wants to buy your back garden for €300,000.

The retired property developer placed an ad in a local newspaper this month offering householders €300,000 for a plot in the most lucrative part of the country.

Brendan, who did not want to reveal his identity, said he placed the ad because of a serious lack of suitable housing sites in South Dublin.

Despite widespread reports of an ease in housing demand, local auctioneers said home buyers are finding it impossible to find plots in the Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown area.

One auctioneer revealed that some desperate developers had taken to the air in helicopters to locate suitable sites.

Brendan's ad invited anyone willing to offer their side or back garden - "in a private area that may be suitable to build one small bungalow, subject to planning" - to phone him.

He still hasn't located a site, but if he does he will bring in a German company called Hansehaus, which provides all material and labour, to build a prefabricated house for €200,000.

He will then either sell the house or give it to his son.

"I put the ad in because where else will I get a site?" he said. "Auctioneers don't have any. In most cases, you have to buy a house and demolish it, which can be too expensive. There is very little green space available in south Dublin, but I think there are sites around that people don't realise they have.

"I'm in Bray and want it in the southside - Bray or Dun Laoghaire, perhaps. There were lots of sites that I looked at that were not suitable, including one in Kilternan. I could get a site for €100,000 in Wexford, but I don't want it there."

Lisney's residential sales negotiator Ann-Marie O'Malley said that most back and side garden building had taken place over the last 10 years, making it more difficult to find sites.

"It is getting more unusual for people to place ads like this," she said. "I don't think there is as strong a demand as there was 12 months ago as most people have built on these sites during the housing boom.

"People chose to build on them themselves because it was more profitable than selling the sites, and they would build for their children, too. A lot more people are moving into side gardens themselves and selling the main house to avoid Capital Gains Tax.

Meanwhile, Brendan - who said he has built five houses, two shops and three office suites for family members - sees his project as an investment.

"Now I'm retired and am not doing anything, it's a good time for something like this. I think €300,000 is a realistic price for a site."

Anne-Marie Walsh
irish Independent