Park West apartments Fire defect

ewiz9

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/fire-defects-at-park-west-apartments-in-dublin-to-cost-5m-to-fix-1.4615303

apartments at Park West are available for affordable prices. but they have fire defects. if i buy, one of these, what are possible risks? considerations to be taken? possible future expenses etc? any comments?

o1s1n

Possible risk - death by fire

Also possible risk - having to cover a % of the remediation costs via your yearly management fee.

Thoie

There are 3 different blocks there (The Crescent, Academy and Concert buildings - built in that order). So far the defects seem to have only been identified in the Crescent, but they were built by the same developer over the space of a few years, so there's no definitive way of knowing about the other two buildings yet. As O1s1n said, the main risk is an uncontrolled fire running between apartments, but the financial risk is a hefty management fee to cover remediation works.

ElNino

Are you a cash buyer? If not you probably won't be able to get a mortgage to buy one of them.

The_Conductor

The biggest risk is you'll have to take out an additional mortgage to pay for remediation works to bring the units up to cert. While its impossible to say how much this might be- unit owners in other developments in Dublin have been asked to pay between 20 and 35k (that I'm aware of). Most Management Companies are unable to borrow to fund works such as these (or often to borrow for any reason whatsoever)- so the owners are on the hook for this. Typically- you'll pay a lower price for the property upfront- in cognisance of the fact that you're going to have a big bill down the road.

Key here is a proper survey before buying, so you buy with your eyes wide open.

Ron.

Lived in the crescent for a number of years. I wouldn't buy even if all the defects were resolved, unless the long term plan is to rent it out. Decent size apartments with great views south. Sound proofing is good, never heard the neighbours. Excellent transport links so great for the commute to town. That's about it for pros.

Surrounding area is pretty grim which is a shame. Maybe there's more development on the cards in the years to come, it would give the place a boost. The one shop thats closes early so you can't pop out to the local shop after business hours.

If you're on the top floor the roof creeks with every gust of wind and I doubt there's insulation above. I had friends living in a middle floor unit, they had no issues with noise or heat loss.

Not sure if it's still the case but the post boxes were in basement stairwell just off the car park. No cameras there so I often found my mail opened in the bin. It's 4 years back so hopefully they upgraded this. You couldnt leave a bike locked up in the basement otherwise it would be taken.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118429632#Comment_118429632

With the people of the West getting free houses for defects from unregulated builders/suppliers shouldn't the owners of apartments with defects from unregulated builders/suppliers be getting it all repaired for free now? The precedent has been set and it's the tax payer who should be covering them all, or we should have covered none.

Jmc25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118431607#Comment_118431607

Yes, how the successive governments got away with shifting the responsibility onto owners for so long is somewhat of a mystery, especially when we see how quickly the current government caved on what is essentially the same issue over mica when they came under pressure.

Something tells me what will happen is that while homeowners affected by Mica will get close to 100 per cent redress, apartment owners will be shafted in some way into having to accept something less. My guess is a some form of tax relief, which is actually already available to landlords but not owner occupiers.

There will also be calls for retrospective compensation for people who already paid for remediation, who should rightly be entitled to whatever other owners get.

But then you've also got people who took a big haircut in selling their defective apartment as they couldn't afford the remediation costs. They'll get nothing, but they certainly have a right to feel hard done by.

The whole thing - from the lack of regulation that allowed the issues to occur, to the reluctance to engage in discussions about redress, to the clearly preferential treatment of the homeowners affected by Mica, really is a shameful episode for the State.

pbyrneirl

Owners just heard that the defects are going to cost €15.9m to fix over 5 years. Estimated at €69.5k for each owner. The management company wants the first €15k within six weeks if it passes a vote at an upcoming EGM. There will be a lot of owners who won't have a spare €15k, let alone €68.5k. The government needs to intervene now.

handlemaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119485298#Comment_119485298

Lol