Anyone not pay council costs for new houses?

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madge1983

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For any of you who have built your own one off houses, have any of ye not paid the fees that are levied on by your respective county councils?

Thanks in advance!
 
I paid mine - as painful as it was. When it came time to connect to water mains the council insisted that I show proof of paying the initial council contributions (never mind the fact I had to pay another few hundred in connection fees)... I was told if I hadn't the initial contributions paid, they would block water/sewage connections and if I needed a road opening licence for gas/esb/eircom (or anything else) they wouldn't authorise it.

It seems like an easy thing to skip out on initially, but if you "need" any of the council services they have you over a barrell! I'd guess it's the type of thing people have avoided - especially in the past, but with times changing and
a) council staff being less busy
b) council's running defecits
I'm guessing there'll be a big clamp down all over the country.
 
madge1983 said:
For any of you who have built your own one off houses, have any of ye not paid the fees that are levied on by your respective county councils?

Thanks in advance!
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if you dont pay the fess you are in breach of planning conditions and could have enforcement action taken against you.
 
I do understand that we are legally obliged to pay them etc.....its just painful to think about paying thousands to the council for nothing when we could use it to finish our house. We cant even afford to put footpaths around our house, it just makes me mad - sorry if im venting!

We only received one bill for these fees over a year ago & havent received anything since then. Other people we know have received several letters asking for payment threating legal action etc & its the same county council...why is this? I wonder have they forgotten about us :confused:
 
I hate to be overly pragmatic here, but what's the recourse if you do get chased??? If it's a case they add on the annual increases to your bill then you may owe 20% more in 2 years if they do take legal action. If there are late penalties etc. then drawing it out/chancing your arm might be costly in the long run.

But..... If there's no increases/late fees then you have nothing to loose by pushing it... Things like looking for an extension or looking for permission to build a garage or trying to sell the house is when a thing like not paying the contrinution would defo bite you on the *ss.
 
I know, i genuinely do understand all of the reprussions (sp) of not paying the fees, was just putting out feelers to what other peoples experiences were. I honestly am not one for going around with my head in the clouds so I understand that it more than likely will come back to bite us.

Thanks for all of your replies!
 
delboy159 said:
But..... If there's no increases/late fees then you have nothing to loose by pushing it... Things like looking for an extension or looking for permission to build a garage or trying to sell the house is when a thing like not paying the contrinution would defo bite you on the *ss.
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In Cork the fees typically go up annually, I had the chance to pay €9k+ last year. This year its now 10K + so its going to cost me slightly more.
 
we entering a time where concils have less and less moeny so you can be sure they will be going after defaulters hard.....

i supposed they can simply being you to the small claims court, or something similar, and get a jude to rule against you.

these fees are basically another tax... blame the government for taking away funding from LAs a few years ago... leaving the LAs to get funding through development contributions.....

this funding goes into the councils overall finance.....

yo mage id say.... is there a road outside your house?? is there electricity coming to your house?? are you connecting to a foul sewer.. maybe even a storm water one as well.... perhaps even a watermain??....

someone has to pay to both provide and upkeep these....

maybe the councils should do away with contributions and charge a yearly rate for providing a road, sewers and water......
 
"yo mage id say.... is there a road outside your house?? is there electricity coming to your house?? are you connecting to a foul sewer.. maybe even a storm water one as well.... perhaps even a watermain??....

someone has to pay to both provide and upkeep these....

maybe the councils should do away with contributions and charge a yearly rate for providing a road, sewers and water......"

Yes there is a road about 200 meters outside my home - but then I pay road tax for roads. I paid over €1,800 to get my electricity connected & pay by bill every 2 months for its usage. I sunk my own well & paid another few thousand for that luxury & I have a waste water treatment system which I paid another few thousand for.
I dont mean to pick at your points but I have paid for all of those things & I dont know why I have to pay the council money for basically nothing.
Oh lord i should've posted in the let off steam forum me thinks!

Im just gonna have to have a serious think about where I go to from here in relation to these!
 
madge1983 said:
"yo mage id say.... is there a road outside your house?? is there electricity coming to your house?? are you connecting to a foul sewer.. maybe even a storm water one as well.... perhaps even a watermain??....

someone has to pay to both provide and upkeep these....

maybe the councils should do away with contributions and charge a yearly rate for providing a road, sewers and water......"

Yes there is a road about 200 meters outside my home - but then I pay road tax for roads. I paid over €1,800 to get my electricity connected & pay by bill every 2 months for its usage. I sunk my own well & paid another few thousand for that luxury & I have a waste water treatment system which I paid another few thousand for.
I dont mean to pick at your points but I have paid for all of those things & I dont know why I have to pay the council money for basically nothing.
Oh lord i should've posted in the let off steam forum me thinks!

Im just gonna have to have a serious think about where I go to from here in relation to these!
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im not wanting to argue, i completely understand your sense of frustration in paying these charges..

i know of plenty of situations where ahouse of say 2000 sq ft would be charged €3000 dev charges by one county, but if you move 200 yards down the road you could be charged €12000.... ive seen it!!
that kind of practise should be stopped because people pay these fees out of a mortgage which ends up costing them double the initial fee...

but im afraid you dont have much choice, short of challanging the legalities in court....
 
I know, apologies Syd, Im just frustrated & I shouldnt be taking them out on anyone - appreciate your advice!
 
It's not as if this cost was sprung on you all of a sudden. You were aware of this cost implication from planning stage. If you feel so strongly on this matter, then maybe you should of just bought a house instead of building........It is a pain to have to pay it (i paid €6k myself), but I strongly agree with syd; regulation on a set fee needs to be sorted together with the whole planning scenerio and that's a whole different discussion........
 
Agree wholeheartedly that it's a bit much to complain about this now, at the end of your new, one-off build.
 
well, you can't complain as this was a cost that should have been taken into the build cost, we had to pay over 8K aswell, but we knew that going into a new build as one of the costs, same as esb/water connection..the costs were upfront when you got planning approval so there is no excuse...it is another tax, for nothing in eturn but its part and parcel of doing a new build.

In cork, we weren't allowed connect to the water supply until the fees were paid, if you have your own well, then its a different matter, not sure do the esb check with the council?
 
Sorry, I thought AAM did not entertain questions regarding breaking these kinds of rules?

Pay up, plain and simple - you knew you'd have to pay it when you got PP, you should have budgeted for it, so pay it.
 
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I know someone who didn't pay, they never sent in their commencement notice just went ahead and built their house - living in it happily for two years now and nobody has come looking for the money
 
johnnyg said:
it is another tax, for nothing in eturn but its part and parcel of doing a new build.

In cork, we weren't allowed connect to the water supply until the fees were paid...
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That looks like a contradiction to me.
 
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