Eighty new homeowners who have paid up to €480,000 for houses in the Sand Wood estate in Portlaoise, Co Laois, have had their move-in date postponed by several months because the homes have no electricity.
Andrew Dollard and his wife Julie are two of the new homeowners. The family initially believed that they would move into their new house in the early months of 2025.
However, that has not happened, and they do not know when it will.
"The house is fully kitted out. It has carpets, floors, windows and doors. It has everything you need in a house but it no electricity," Mr Dollard said.
"We started this [buying the house] in 2024. We love the house. We got the move in dates. This is our first home, our family home. It’s got to the point where we don’t even really want it anymore.
"They’ve taken the good out of buying your first home," he reflected.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Dollard said she feels that the excitement of buying a new home has dissipated.
"We're at the stage of our lives where we want to provide a home to our family. It was exciting for us and now this has taken all the fun out of it," she said.
"Our mortgage lapses at the end of the month; we've to do all this all over again. We’re afraid nearly to get our hopes up because we’ve been let down so many times.
"Even still we don’t really know when the exact date [move-in] is. We’re hearing December now. It’s soul destroying really," she added.
Mr Dollard said that they will "struggle for 30 years to pay for this house".
"I would love for somebody to be held accountable for what’s going on," he said.
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The homeowners were complimentary of developers, Hollybrook, which submitted the connection application to the ESB in March 2024.
'Complex project in a power-constrained area' - ESB
In a statement, ESB Networks said this has been "a complex project in a power-constrained area and it was actively working to upgrade the substation needed to connect the homes".
"Following some necessary updates to the application, we received confirmation and payment from the developer within the past four weeks," it said.
"With this in place, we are now progressing preparations to move forward with the infrastructure installation."
Meanwhile Kaushik Bhaskamran, who has bought one of the 80 houses in Sand Wood, lives and rents in Limerick.
He has enrolled his four-year-old son to start school in Portlaoise this September. That is now up in the air.
"We went and spoke to the principal in Limerick," Mr Bhaskamran said.
"They said they are happy for him to continue in Limerick as long as is needed and then once we get into the house in Portlaoise we can talk to the other school.
"We recently got news from the builder that it could be by December of 2025 before we can move in. We all know what happens in December so possibly it could be January of 2026.
"If that’s the case, I will have to reapply for my mortgage. If this keeps extending I don’t how many times I’ve to keep applying for mortgages," he added.
Laois-based Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack first became aware of the issue two months ago and has called on Minister for Housing James Browne to intervene.
"Things just need to speed up," she said.
"The red tape needs to be cut and Minister Browne just needs to step in and release whatever funding needs to be released.
"These transformers need to be put on-site in Portlaoise so these families can get into their houses," Senator McCormack added.
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Department of Housing says matter should be addressed to ESB
In a statement, the Department of Housing said that the matter "should be addressed directly to ESB Networks who are responsible for providing connections for new housing".
"Late last year ESB Networks submitted their plans for 2026-2030 to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities [CRU] and they are planning to meet housing growth, economic growth, electric vehicles and the electrification of home and commercial heating," the statement added.
However, Senator McCormack maintains that responsibility for the absence of power in the houses concerned rests with ESB Networks.
"Hollybrook developers put in an initial application [for the houses to be connected to the ESB network] on 28 March 2024. They have given plenty of notice and the delay is clearly not on their end.
"The delay is clearly with the ESB. They are stating capacity issues, but these are 80 families who are locked out of their houses."
Another homeowner, Georgina James, is hoping that the matter will be expedited as she is currently renting.
"I’m renting a house in Portlaoise at the moment, but my tenancy agreement is expiring soon so we definitely need clarity on the handover date," she said.
This sentiment was echoed by Jensen Jacob who also bought one of the houses.
"My current landlord is selling my apartment, so it looks like I don’t have any place by the end of this month to live in.
"Finding a new rental in the short term is also going to be impossible. No one is going to give me a short-term rental."
Meanwhile, Mr Dollard is worried that the absence of electricity to heat his new house will lead to long term issues.
"We can’t put the power on, we can’t put the heating on.
"If it starts raining or snowing come December, how do we keep the house dry? How does the damp stop? How do you keep mould out?
"We own the house so even if mould comes and stuff like that, that’s absolutely abysmal," he said.
