Council taking our estate "in charge"

[Sansan]

Hi folks,

My next door neighbor showed me our local newspaper, it had a small notice saying that our estate has been taken in charge, now the builder of the estate is on his knees, loads of empty houses and land with fpp but unused, the estate is about 2years old, can anyone explain the whole in charge thing, as we all pay management fees, so a bit of confusion, will unused houses be used for social/ afford housing

thanks again

 

[Moral Ethos]

If the estate have been taken in charge by the council, that means you will cease to pay management fees. The council will now take over the functions of the management company.

 

[Sansan]

That's a bit of a good thing, but what do the council get from this, it's a private not council built estate, the whole village was built by 4 builders with 4 types of house styles but only our part has been taken in charge. Do the council get houses for their services

 

[Oilean Beag]

The Council is obliged to take common areas of estates in charge where there are no apartments. This maintenance is paid for with your tax euro and the Council don't "get" anything in return for it. They are just fulfiilling their duty as a Council.

The Council may purchase the remaining houses in the estate from the builder or his liquidator out of their housing budget but that would be an entirely seperate matter.

 

[Complainer]

The Council is obliged to take common areas of estates in charge where there are no apartments.

This is nonsense. Many estates with or without apartments are not being taken in charge, because the planning permission specifically stated that they would not be taken in charge.

 

[mathepac]

If the estate have been taken in charge by the council, that means you will cease to pay management fees. The council will now take over the functions of the management company.

That may or may not be the case. The council may agree to take over the roads (non-gated community) but may not agree to maintain grassed / common areas / trees / other planting. There is no set rule. As usual it all depends on planning permissions, agreements and other issues.

 

[markpb]

This is nonsense. Many estates with or without apartments are not being taken in charge, because the planning permission specifically stated that they would not be taken in charge.

The Dept of Environment issued a http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCgQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.environ.ie%2Fen%2FPublications%2FDevelopmentandHousing%2FPlanning%2FFileDownLoad%2C16779%2Cen.pdf&ei=wT0XTJzZKZKI0wSGxrXGCw&usg=AFQjCNHa74CB8qsVRigKncmaRUgjeyxMXw&sig2=k35Qw_u_S-0r1uttFqs5LA (circular) two years ago telling local authorities that they were not allowed to deny taking in charge and must have a published policy around it. It says:

which places a legal obligation on planning authorities to take in charge residential developments, finished or unfinished, where certain conditions have been met.

and more importantly, it also says:

Where there are core facilities in existing residential developments which were approved by the planning authority on the basis that they would remain private and be maintained by a management company, these must be taken in charge if the majority of residents request it;

 

[gipimann]

If the estate have been taken in charge by the council, that means you will cease to pay management fees. The council will now take over the functions of the management company.

My estate was taken in charge this year, however homeowners have been advised that the management company still exists and fees are still payable to maintain the common areas.

 

[Moral Ethos]

You should have got rid of them at that stage.

 

[mathepac]

... homeowners have been advised that the management company still exists and fees are still payable to maintain the common areas.

Is this an example of the local-authority doing a partial or selective taking in charge that I posted above?

Was there an AGM / EGM to set new budgets after the taking in charge? Are the management company directors still the developers / developer's nominees?

 

[gipimann]

The management company was initally set up by the developer, but when building finished, the running of the company was handed over to residents themselves, with a management agent handling the invoicing, etc. Each houseowner becomes a member when they purchase a property, it's compulsory and forms part of the legal documentation.

(we also have a resident's association, just to complicate matters!!).

The management company sent around a newsletter to state that there would be no changes to the yearly fee following the taking in charge because the local authority would not guarantee that the upkeep of the green areas would be to the existing standard if the LA did it themselves, and the money the LA offered in lieu of the work fell far short of the money required (can't remember the exact figures, but a sum of €1000 per year from the LA comes to mind). There are almost 400 houses in the estate, so that wasn't going to reduce the management fee by more than a euro or two at most.

The invoicing & payment date of annual management fee, the taking in charge, and the usual date of the AGM all occurred during the bad winter weather, so the AGM was postponed. It's possible that there may be changes from next year, but we're not holding our breath!

 

[Complainer]

The Dept of Environment issued a http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCgQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.environ.ie%2Fen%2FPublications%2FDevelopmentandHousing%2FPlanning%2FFileDownLoad%2C16779%2Cen.pdf&ei=wT0XTJzZKZKI0wSGxrXGCw&usg=AFQjCNHa74CB8qsVRigKncmaRUgjeyxMXw&sig2=k35Qw_u_S-0r1uttFqs5LA (circular) two years ago telling local authorities that they were not allowed to deny taking in charge and must have a published policy around it. It says:


and more importantly, it also says:

Thanks for the clarification. I stand corrected. I wasn't aware that things had moved on.

 

[LittlePiggy]

The Dept of Environment issued a circular two years ago telling local authorities that they were not allowed to deny taking in charge and must have a published policy around it.

I find this really interesting. We live in an estate where it is fully finished and sold, but the council are not taking it in charge as they don't have the money to do it. I don't doubt it, but it is extremely important that this is taken in charge. As I have previously mentioned on this site, we have had problems with a sewage pump in the estate, long term the estate members will not be able to, or will be unwilling to, pay for new pumps and cleaning it out.

This document is two years old but is it worthwhile prusuing the council over this? Is it still relevant or are all best off these days?

 

[LittlePiggy]

Many thanks for your reply. To clarify my last post, there WAS a problem with the sewage pump, which is now resolved. We asked the developer to fix it but, as with so many of them these days, he was gone bust. It was resolved because the council stepped in and fixed it, with a warning that they would not do it again.

That was when we asked if they could take over the estate but they said they would not due to a lack of money for taking over any estates. Currently the estate is working well and everything is working and completed.

So with that in mind, do we stand a hope of forcing the council to take over now?