We went to court to try to force the transfer of the common areas. Even though we got our court order, the developers dug their heels in, mostly I think out of malice because we had a terrible relationship with them from the start, and they are flatly refusing to do the transfer. If the development is an apartment block, as in my case, forcing transfer of the common areas is not the only goal, although it is essential if the owners are ever to own the properties they paid for.
Even without the common areas being transferred, we learned that the owners can take control of the OMC, and decide what the annual management fee should be, whether to employ a management agent (we don't), whether to have a collective refuse/recycling service (we do), whether to put up a free to air satellite piped into every apartment (we do), ensure the development is insured (ours was not when we took over as owners) and taking care of maintenance of the common areas so that the place retains a bright, attractive appearance.