5 ms·

I moved to Dublin in 2000 to go to college, and finding a place to rent was extremely hard, they were very expensive, very low quality (eg. tiny mouldy basement

I moved to Dublin in 2000 to go to college, and finding a place to rent was extremely hard, they were very expensive, very low quality (eg. tiny mouldy basement) and you had no protection, there was no PRTB as far as I was aware, the landlords would always just keep your deposit and do whatever they wanted. I learned to never pay the last months rent (just keep fobbing them off with sob stories for a month) as the landlord would surely never give back my deposit. from roughly 2000, to 2010, things got much better, it actually felt like a renters market at times. You could rent a whole house in the city for a reasonable amount, and tenancies could new be registered with the PRTB. So both parties had protection. After that I found things gradually harder and harder. Harder to find a place, more crummy places for more money, landlords no longer registering with PRTB, doing whatever they want again, cus they know any tenant will have to put up with it and just feel lucky to have a place. In 2016, I had had enough of it. I moved down to the country. It was a great move, I can go on great walks and cycles from my door, its quiet and peaceful, and I am avoiding all the noise, air pollution, scumbags, and issues of housing in Dublin.

CalRobert 8y ago
Where'd you go? Doing the same thing myself.
- everyone 8y ago
  To my parents house in a very remote spot in Co. Kilkenny. I kept my lump sum that I had almost used to get a mortgage to get a house in Dublin.. and now I'm just living off of it without needing to work for a few years. :)
  - CalRobert 8y ago
    Hah, looked at a place in kilkenny ourselves. Waterford too, which seems underrated. Looks like we'll wind up in Offaly, buying a modest place cash with what we saved for a deposit in Dublin.
    - frabbit 8y ago
      I assume you have the option to work remotely then. Sounds like the best of all worlds.... as long as.... (and this gets to what has been IMO one of the causes of the housing problem) ... you do not need access to a hospital or a university. For as long as I can remember there have been calls to decentralize government infrastructure to rural locations to both ease the resource demands in Dublin and to allow people in the countryside to get a job near their families. By and large it has not happened. And when that has been coupled with the actual shutting of rural services (An Post, hospitals etc) using the excuse of austerity (itself triggered by housing speculation) the situation is just exacerbated. Good luck in Offaly. I chose to move abroad over a decade ago instead of dealing with the implications of a gombeen state.
      - CalRobert 8y ago
        I understand. I moved abroad instead of dealing with the consequences of unbridled capitalism and record inequality. Ireland has plenty of problems but on the whole you could do a lot worse. Assuming the rule of law stays intact(ish) it should do better than most places w.r.t. climate change. My homeland is burning up, sadly. I do work remote. Will be about 12 minute's drive from Tullamore, which is 53 minute train ride from Dublin. Hospital and even a greenway for cycling not too far. The long term plan is to structure life to be low overhead and be able to work for ourselves, do some permaculture as well. Considered other countries but Ireland has been pretty good to us (crap bike infra notwithstanding) and, well, life is a long and winding road. I'd never get a house cash an hour from the job centers of my former home (Northern California).
      - CalRobert 8y ago
        This goverment suffers from a lack of imagination regarding rural Ireland. You'd think all they care about is cars and cows if you asked FG. Giving folks a bigger motorway to congest with two hour commutes won't save it. Yet I know plenty of Dubs who feel trapped renting kips and are open to other lifestyles.

CalRobert 8y ago

Where'd you go? Doing the same thing myself.

everyone 8y ago
To my parents house in a very remote spot in Co. Kilkenny. I kept my lump sum that I had almost used to get a mortgage to get a house in Dublin.. and now I'm just living off of it without needing to work for a few years. :)
- CalRobert 8y ago
  Hah, looked at a place in kilkenny ourselves. Waterford too, which seems underrated. Looks like we'll wind up in Offaly, buying a modest place cash with what we saved for a deposit in Dublin.
  - frabbit 8y ago
    I assume you have the option to work remotely then. Sounds like the best of all worlds.... as long as.... (and this gets to what has been IMO one of the causes of the housing problem) ... you do not need access to a hospital or a university. For as long as I can remember there have been calls to decentralize government infrastructure to rural locations to both ease the resource demands in Dublin and to allow people in the countryside to get a job near their families. By and large it has not happened. And when that has been coupled with the actual shutting of rural services (An Post, hospitals etc) using the excuse of austerity (itself triggered by housing speculation) the situation is just exacerbated. Good luck in Offaly. I chose to move abroad over a decade ago instead of dealing with the implications of a gombeen state.
    - CalRobert 8y ago
      I understand. I moved abroad instead of dealing with the consequences of unbridled capitalism and record inequality. Ireland has plenty of problems but on the whole you could do a lot worse. Assuming the rule of law stays intact(ish) it should do better than most places w.r.t. climate change. My homeland is burning up, sadly. I do work remote. Will be about 12 minute's drive from Tullamore, which is 53 minute train ride from Dublin. Hospital and even a greenway for cycling not too far. The long term plan is to structure life to be low overhead and be able to work for ourselves, do some permaculture as well. Considered other countries but Ireland has been pretty good to us (crap bike infra notwithstanding) and, well, life is a long and winding road. I'd never get a house cash an hour from the job centers of my former home (Northern California).
    - CalRobert 8y ago
      This goverment suffers from a lack of imagination regarding rural Ireland. You'd think all they care about is cars and cows if you asked FG. Giving folks a bigger motorway to congest with two hour commutes won't save it. Yet I know plenty of Dubs who feel trapped renting kips and are open to other lifestyles.