A pregnant garda has been left devastated after being told the majority of her dream house will need to be demolished after having already paid out over €40,000 on construction work.
Mum-to-be Janice Doyle, from Drogheda, took out a €50,000 credit union loan to pay for the renovations but an engineer who inspected the property said she'll need at least another €50,000 to put things right.
The 36-year-old initially purchased the bungalow near the town centre in August 2021 and said she knew some work had to be done to it.
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Construction for an extension and a second storey got underway in February 2022.
Janice explained she had a visit from Louth County Council surrounding a planning permission matter which prompted her to get an engineer to carry out an inspection.
In the engineer's report, he recommended a litany of changes and stated "the rear extension should be demolished and rebuilt".
The engineer concluded: "In my opinion, the remedial works to the original house ... and the removal of the partly constructed rear extension will cost a minimum of €50,000."
Janice, who is four months pregnant, told the Irish Mirror: "It's absolutely devastating. I've saved up and worked really hard.
"I even changed careers in order to get mortgage approval on my own and I took out a huge loan of €50,000 to refurbish the house because it was in pretty bad condition when I bought it.
"I just wanted to get the house liveable and then I would add the finishing touches over time."
Janice continued: "Some of my friends bought homes six or seven months after me and they're living in them for months already. It's so frustrating. I don't feel like a homeowner. I'm 36 and I'm still living at home."
Janice revealed she is paying out €1,300 a month which is split between the credit union loan repayments, her mortgage on the house, and rent she pays to her mum to stay in her spare room.
She said she has no idea how she is going to raise another €50,000 to finish the property but said in recent months she learned that she may be eligible for Government grants.
At present, the back of the property and partly completed extension are completely exposed while the ground floor ceiling is being dangerously propped up by a couple of bricks.
Janice added: "I have nothing to show for my hard work. Everything was supposed to get done except for the plumbing and electrics. The whole house is completely open now at the back.
"I'll be lucky if I'm able to move in before Christmas this year.
"The roof is now basically being held up by three bricks. There are no supporting beams, the whole roof could just collapse if you stood up there."
"A good number of very kind people have reached out to me. There is light at the end of the tunnel from all the kind gestures that I have received from people so I hope I can move in by Christmas.
"There are so many kind people who have offered to even helped build it."
Janice's pal has set up a campaign to ask for financial assistance.
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