Council refusing to take over small housing estate

n.d.os

My house was built in 2007 along with three other houses in a small development of 7 houses in Co. Meath. The remaining three houses were built privately.

The developer lives about a mile down the road from the estate and one of her responsibilities was to build the roads, paths, water treatment services etc... A private builder was brought in to built the houses who went bust about 90% through the build and the three houses were left somewhat unfinished.

Around 2013 a management company for the development had been set up with the builder and one of the residents who lives in one of the private houses on the board of directors. The four houses were sold around this time and shortly after the builder wiped his hands of it and one of the new residents replaced him on as MD.

About a year into living in the estate we started to notice the roads and paths were cracking and there were issues with the drains. The road has also collapsed in some areas and at one stage a tractor tipped over bringing sandbags to a neighbours house. Luckily our public liability wasn't brought into question. After discussing this as an estate we decided to apply for the estate to be taken over by the council. We did this in 2019.

In early 2020 we received a letter from the council. In it they outlined problems with the estate amounting to almost €60,000. They said they were not prepared to take over the estate.

Going back over records, the developer was sent an enforcement letter back in 2008 to finish the estate and did so but clearly didn't complete the works to an appropriate standard.

Where do we stand on this? Should the council have come in an checked the estate back in 2008 after the enforcement letter was sent and checked that the works were completed or does this fall back on the developer.

We need the estate taken over. Its not possible for us to manage the roads, lights and pathways going forward. Some residents in the estate are worried about the developer getting into trouble.

Any thoughts?

Mrs OBumble

What did your lawyer advise about these risks when you purchased the house?

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120531859#Comment_120531859

When we bought the house, the estate was visibly in good order with no visible areas of stress on the tarmac. Our engineer checked the house itself and was happy. He did not check the estate. When we all moved in, this increased traffic into the estate with bin trucks, lorries etc... and very quickly the road started to crack. We had it checked and it is missing a vital component of the sub-base. Also, there are joins along the road from where another road was originally. One of the houses is having trouble with drainage resulting from poorly positioned drainage holes in the estate. All of this was pointed out by the council in their 2020 report. A council engineer would have spotted the issues had they visited following the enforcement in 2008, but I'm presuming they didn't or signed it off as it was. Issues such as road signs were also highlighted by the council in their 2020 report.

L1011

Talk to the more experienced/competent seeming local Councillors. Every Council in the country has had to deal with taking unfinished estates in to charge; particularly in the last decade.

And nobody should give a toss if the developer gets into trouble; although realistically that won't happen.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120532397#Comment_120532397

We've included two local councillors in the correspondences but they both know the developer. Such is country life and tight knit communities. I suppose we could approach someone else.

The developer has family links to some of the residents in the estate and also some of the people we are dealing with in the council who have stopped responding. You couldn't make it up.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120532365#Comment_120532365

The engineers report on the house is irrelevant.

Did your LAWYER not give you advice, or did you choose to ignore it?

Caranica

Who owns the common areas? Has the management company taken it over from the developer? If so, the management company, ie all owners could be liable for the costs. You need to go through your documents in detail to see what your liability is and then see if the lands have been transferred.

It's not automatic that Councils take developments in charge any more. We're 19 years old here and still a private development with no Council involvement.

Varik

Few things.

Developer/building leaving management company after all properties are sold is normal.

What maintenance was done over the years?

The way things are Councils love filling the bit of green space in an existing estate with new houses.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120532627#Comment_120532627

I'm not sure how my lawyer is relevant to this. This is a housing estate, not a private issue relating to my own property.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120532637#Comment_120532637

The common areas were transferred over to the residents after the houses were sold. Yes, the council are saying we are liable for the costs as the management company is made up of residents. By law the council has to take over a housing estate if the majority of residents sign a document to do so which we have done but the council won’t take it over because they are saying the estate is not suitable due to problems with the road etc...

As I mentioned in a previous post, the council sent an enforcement letter to the developer (not the builder) to complete works in the estate before the houses were sold. He did some of this but not all of it if the councils 2020 report is anything to go by. Also, the work done by the developer was not completed correctly and the estate is now falling apart. Why didn’t the council flag this back in 2008?

There is a bond paid to the council by the developer in case something like this happens. They must use it to take over the estate, and fix it. The problem is, the council won’t respond and there are too many grey areas in the local laws surrounding this kind of thing.

Do we just let the estate fall apart?

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120532836#Comment_120532836

We all maintain the green areas. The roads have not been fixed. We fix broken fences and on occasion one of the residents climbs up the light posts to replace the bulbs. He’s stopped doing this because its too dangerous.

It’s a small rural development. Theres nowhere for more houses to be built.

Granolite

if to comply with a planning condition the Developer lodged a bond - for finishing out of the estate or covering off costs associated with the Developer going into administration prior to completion of the estate - do you have recourse to taking a civil case against the council for possible non enforcement of the planning conditions?

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533021#Comment_120533021

It's a private estate. After the houses were sold the residents assumed ownership of the common area.

We (the management company) applied for the roads, lights and pathways to be taken over by the council in 2019. This is normal procedure. Usually it’s done before the houses are sold by the developer but it wasn’t in our case. By law the council must take over the estate if the majority of the residents request this. As per my previous message, they are refusing to take it over because they are saying it is not up to standards.

Please read the messages guys. I’m repeating myself a lot. I’m wondering if anyone has experience with these things. It’s not as simple as some people are making it. The council are obliged to take it over but they are making it difficult and failed to ensure that the common areas were built to building standards.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533033#Comment_120533033

That's what I’m thinking. I’m wondering if that is something we might be able to pursue with the council. I’m just not sure who’s fault the shoddy common are is. The developers, the councils or both.

Granolite

It does sound a complicated scenario. I imagine there would be quite a long record of correspondence on file to wade through to see if any party has reneged on their legal obligations somewhere. It might be worth employing a solicitor experienced in planning law to advise your residents committee and go from there.

walterking

Firstly, the director of the OMC that also was the developer must resign as soon as the last house is sold.

That is a legal requirement. He did not "wipe his hands of it"

The OMC effectively owns the common areas and the OMC is made up of the owners of the houses.

You need to check every document in the planning file and see if there's an insurance bond in place, though I suspect it has expired at this point.

I was in a similar sized estate of holiday homes. We made sure that €300 of the management fee (€700) went into a sinking fund as we expected having to redo the road at some point (15 years was the time line suggested) and also we were mindful of the storm drain. I'm not there anymore, but the preference of all owners was to keep it private.

I think the issue is that a sinking fund has not been built up rather than anything else.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533116#Comment_120533116

The developer “completed” the enforcement order in 2008. After the residents applied for the estate to be taken over in 2019 the council responded by saying the estate wasn’t finished to appropriate standards. There is nothing on record from the council in between. Surely the council would have sent someone out to check that the enforcement order was completed to building standards? Something fishy here if you ask me.

I agree that it’s not the tax payers responsibility, but it’s not our responsibility as residents to pay 60k to fix an estate because the council didn’t check the development was completed correctly before the houses went on sale.

The estate was in no means a mess when we bought the houses. It looked like any estate. When you get into the nitty gritty you can see that the developer cut corners and the council either turned a blind eye or didn’t send out an engineer in the worst part of the property crash to check the estate was okay.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533244#Comment_120533244

You do have a point and that is the approach we would take if we wanted to keep the estate private, but we don’t. We already pay €800 a year per house for waste treatment and tree cutting. I won’t get into the details to protect all members involved. Also, some residents aren’t prepared to pay for the road privately as it doesn’t affect their property.

Our plan from the start was always to hand the common area over to the council. We waited a few years as most families were just getting settled.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Check the original planning. If this was originally planned as a multiunit development the council doesn't have to take the estate in charge.

The fact that there has been an issue regarding the non completion of the estate may give the council an escape from having to take the estate in charge but I feel that surely an issue raised in 2008 should have been closed allowing the estate to be taken in charge.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120532957#Comment_120532957

You weren't just purchasing a house you were purchasing a share in the management company.

It was in that company's interest to make sure that the council were happy with the work back in 2008. It sounds like they totally failed to do so or even to recognise that they, as a company had obligations.

Your lawyer should have been checking for any issues with the MUD Act and with completion and advising of the risks involved: I'm guessing you just closed your ears to anything you didn't want to hear.

How much is in your sinking fund?

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533304#Comment_120533304

All of the residents were happy to take over the estate privately for a short time until everyone was settled. This was 2013, the houses were partially unfinished and everything was checked thoroughly by all parties involved. The issue for us arose when the road started to break apart. Unfortunately none of us, including anyone on the management company at the time had any idea that what lay under the road wasn’t up to building standards. It’s the developers fault, but the developer was never part of the management company. The builder was was.

Developer: land and estate

Builder: houses (the houses are perfect)

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533295#Comment_120533295

Yes, I’m presuming the issue raised in 2008 should have been closed which is the only leg we have to stand on really. Only an engineer from the council would have noticed the road wasn’t done right. I don’t know why it wasn’t raised at the time before the houses went on sale. This is where I think the council messed up.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533338#Comment_120533338

We keep a certain amount in the bank account to cover bills, public liability insurance and general maintenance. Nothing has been put aside to maintain the road. 3 of the 7 houses want to create a sinking fund to cover the road but the other houses don't really join the conversation as the road is okay outside their houses.

A poster above mentioned a holiday estate. Is it normal for residents in private housing estates to create a sinking fund to maintain roads and pathways? If you think about it, it's on a matter of time before the road will need resurfacing anyway, never mind the situation we are in.

RJellybean

According to the office of the planning Regulator (Opr.ie) "Even if a development has not been completed to the satisfaction of a local authority, if four years have passed since the expiry of the planning permission and no planning enforcement action has been taken, a local authority is obliged to take the development in charge if the majority of the homeowners submit a written request"

OP you mentioned in your original post that enforcement action took place in 2008. This could be a reason the council are not obliged to take it in charge.

astrofool

Is there a yearly fee for running the OMC? Things like lights/general upkeep would then come out of this. A sinking fund would need to be setup for roads/paths to replace them as needed or if there were any issues (e.g. drainage)

If the issues were resolved (i.e. €60,000 paid to get everything correct) would the council then take over? (as it sounds like that's what's needed to happen in the absence of a bond or insurance on the works completed by the builder before they handed the estate over).

You may also find that post-works, it's more advantageous to stay private.

zg3409

I suggest you get legal advice based on all paperwork. As others have said the council may have no obligation to take over the land and the homeowners may or may not have any obligation to pay for remedial works. If it's a private shared road, then a decision would be made by owners to fix it or not and pay the cost to do so. However you need to find out your legal position, and other owners legal position. You may be able to legally force them to pay, but getting the cash out of them may be a different matter. You may be able to force the council legally but again council don't seem keen.

You can't really get good advice here as it depends on legal documents that may or may not exist with clauses that may or may not exist.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533412#Comment_120533412

We are aware of this clause and according to one of the residents who works in the area, they are obliged to take it over. They are simply creating a barrier to this with the €60,000 snag list they sent us in 2020.

Yes, you might be right about the date being passed although we did find something recently that outlines where the estate wasn't finished to appropriate standards, the council is obliged to use the bond to fix the issues and then take over the estate. It's all a bit wordy though and we may need to get a solicitor to look at it.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533443#Comment_120533443

Yes, I believe if the 60k worth of works are completed by us then they will take it over. We all pay between €800 and €1000 per year to maintain the usual bits in the estate including waste treatment.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120533541#Comment_120533541

Thanks for the advise. Yes, I think you are right. It's complicated with so many houses involved and something I expect will drag on for years.

The council do not want to inherit the estates problems. In order for the council to consider taking over the estates the owners will need to rectify the current issues first and have it handover ready. The council will probably also insist on surveys after the works have been completed to ensure its been completed to the correct standards after. You can't really expect the council to pay 60 grand to fix what is currently a private road.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120542046#Comment_120542046

They should have checked the estate after they sent an enforcement order to the developer to complete paths, roads, lighting and drainage. None of the work complies with building standards so the council and the developer are to blame. Not the residents and we shouldn't have to pay for it. The council should with the bond they received from the developer. By law, they have to take over the estate and are simply trying to avoid it. If it was okay to run with these standards in every housing development, then the whole country would be falling apart. It's the councils responsibility to monitor all building works and in this case they took their eye off the ball during the property crash and let this happen. We've even had someone from another county council agree with us.

L1011

The councils bond is astoundingly unlikely to still exist. Many were 'insured' and ceased even before the development finished back then.

Anyway, the management company was the body that needed to ensure they got handed over a usable situation not the council - and that management company is the residents, as few of them as there are. This is not the same situation as an estate that was intended from day 1 to go to council maintenance.

GNWoodd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120552191#Comment_120552191

Go back to the original planning permission . There should be a condition requiring a bond be put in place by the developer . Find out from the Council what happened with this bond - Has to be one of two things - either the bond is still in place ( the developer paying the annual fee to the bond provider / bank ) or the bond has lapsed. If it has lapsed, then the Council has questions to answer as to why they allowed it to lapse. It should simply have been called in, if it was the case that the developer wasn’t renewing the bond .That would have resulted in the bond provider paying the full sum to the Council which should have provided them with the funds to do the work if the developer wasn’t going to do it .

Otherwise the Council is under no obligation to take over the estate if it isn’t to their satisfaction . And why should they ? At the end of the day it is local ratepayers that provide the funds to the Council for this type of work and why should a ratepayer fund what the developer should have completed. Council could have written to the developer multiple times listing deficiencies or they may not have written at all. Makes no odds to a takeover application if work is still outstanding .

Where was your solicitor at the time of your purchase ? It is a basic requirement in any property conveyance that “ Roads and Services “ are confirmed to be in the charge of the County Council . This certification which is provided by the County Council ( but not by the planning section ) forms part of your title deeds for ever more .

n.d.os

The estate is finished. The road in the estate collapsed in the first year. After having it checked, there is a vital layer of the sub-base missing. The residents were not to know this when buying the houses.

Also, why should the residents be required to pay 60k to get an estate "up to scratch" if the council didn't fulfill their side of the enforcement order? Again, I'm coming back to their letter here. Forgetting the road, they pointed out other issues with the estate.

When we were buying the house, everyone in the estate understood that it was a private estate. That's irrelevant as we all decided we wanted the estate taken over after moving in not before. Some residents still couldn't care less either way.

I have to ask. If it's such an issue for the council taking over an estate they have so many issues with, why didn't they make sure it was built correctly in the first place and failing that, why did they care so much at the time that everything was done in a certain way. They made the developer dig up a perfectly good road at the time to widen it and add paths. According to early residents, how it was before was perfect. The enforcement order is what caused all of the issues we are having.

The council should at least open up a conversation with us and provide information as to why the estate is the way it is. I understand it's not the tax payers problem but the council were the ones who set out how the estate should have been built and as the layers get stripped back it's clear that it wasn't done correctly.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120552674#Comment_120552674

The council didn't build the estate, the council are not going to have somebody onsite fulltime to supervise the development and they are not going to start taking core samples when a development is complete to ensure the roads have been laid properly. The council sent an enforcement order but if the developer is gone who do they force to rectify the issues?

Unless there was an agreement between the developer and council to take the development in charge post development you are out of luck and will have to apply to be taken over by the council. As part of that process the council will perform due diligence, the management company will need to rectify any issues found prior to the council taking over.

The bond was probably returned to the developer once the estate was connected to council services (roads, water, waste) and after the estate was handed over to the property management company.

Your problem is with the developer, if they no longer exist the problem is now the management companies. Its not fair but that's where you stand currently.

walterking

There absolutely is no "law" whatsoever that says the council "must" take over an estate.

Also, if most of the houses were purchase in 2012/2013, all the owners are sitting on VERY SUBSTANTIAL capital appreciation.

As am OMC had been set up prior to the purchase, it should have been known by all purchasers that this would be a private estate as each purchaser automatically became a member of the OMC when they bought the property and when the last property sold the developer is legally obliged to withdraw from the OMC as the developer no longer owns any of the units.

You seem to want to blame everyone possible except yourselves for not getting proper checks done and not understanding what an OMC is for.

As per a post above, the planning files will have all the information about the bond and correspondence between developer and council and if the road condition only became noticeable in 2020, the council most likely released the bond prior to this.

In reality there are only two parties where blame lies - the purchasers (for not having sufficient sinking fund) and the developers (if they hid substandard work)

But you as the purchasers have gained substantially

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120553155#Comment_120553155

The estate is not hooked up to any services, except electricity. Waste treatment is done through a Willow bed at the council's request as the estate was too far from the road. Now they are claiming the estate needs to be linked to water services for them to take it over.

This is the problem with planning laws in Ireland. The councils don't do their job correctly and residents get shafted in the long run. Bonds are in place for this exact reason so I'm not sure why everyone is disputing this. The point of a bond is to cover any failures by the developer but instead, the estate wasn't built correctly and the money has disappeared.

There is nothing to say the council can't come in and patch the repairs like they would in any shoddy modern estate. No one expects them to come in and dig it all up but they are expecting that of us so they don't have to take over another estate.

Why are we paying property tax if we are pumping our own water out of the ground, running our own waste treatment, paying for our own lights, and repairing our own roads? If we are cut off completely, are we not just giving money away to people who have these facilities in place? Remember we bought our houses when none of this property tax nonsense was in place.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120553213#Comment_120553213

Yes, the houses are worth a lot of money compared to when we bought them but that is irrelevant.

As purchasers we will continue to manage the estate and a management company needs to stay in place to look after waste treatment and general maintenance. There is a sinking fund in place to look after these things, just not to replace entire roads.

It's very unusual for any private estate to hang onto roads, pathways, and lighting as part of the management company. These things are always handed over to the council and when the estate houses were sold these were in good order. Also, there was a road accessing all of the houses prior to the council enforcement order and the road functioned properly.

It is not our responsibility to have a sinking fund in place to manage roads. Every estate in this country legally should be taken over by the council if most of the residents vote on it. You can dance around that all you want.

Yes, this is the developer's fault, mostly, but it is up to the council to provide us with the information we need to investigate that and so far they appear to be trying to protect the developer.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120553645#Comment_120553645

Sounds like your estate will never be a candidate to be taken in charge by the council unless ye are successful in joining mains sewerage. Councils don't want the responsibility of managing small estates that's why they generally all come with OMCs.

I think you are misunderstanding the councils role here. Any defects are the responsibility of the developer, if they had insurance it may cover repairs but if the developer intentionally cut corners it probably wont.

What bond was collected? Generally the bond collected covers any potential costs to the council not to cover any defects in the estate. Once your estate was connected to the main road the bond was probably returned. Its no harm in checking if the bond was not returned they may return it to the OMC now if the developer is gone.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120553760#Comment_120553760

The estate is connected to the developer's land, so there is a right of way through their entrance. The council took issues with how this was done also in their 2020 letter.

Maybe our fight is with the developer but I don't see that happening. There are too many connections in the estate to this woman which frustrates me to no end.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120553977#Comment_120553977

Best of luck.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120553678#Comment_120553678

It's very unusual for any private estate to hang onto roads, pathways, and lighting as part of the management company. These things are always handed over to the council and when the estate houses were sold these were in good order.

It's unusual for private estates not to hang onto their roads. We recently had to redo all the speed ramps as they where collapsing. We've had to grind down the edges of our footpaths to reduce trip hazards and have just replaced all our street lights with LEDs. Estates where handed over to the councils years ago, once they met the criteria, but the system changed now where new developments are setup as Multi Unit Developments with OMCs.

You, as in your OMC, should be chasing up the builder and developer to see if they will finish the estate to council standards if not then all the members of the OMC will have to chip in fix up your development, as with the issues you've got you're properties are nearly unsalable.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120555929#Comment_120555929

I don't think it's that bad for us. These some issues with the road outside some of the properties but a patch and repair would probably sort that out if someone wanted to sell. I don't think the other snags would even bother a potential buyer if someone decided to sell.

For the time being I'm going to look after my own interests. I'll make sure the area close to my house is okay and let others worry about their own houses.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120557027#Comment_120557027

No bank will give a mortgage for any house in your estate and solicitors will tell cash buyers to run away as it's not got an functioning OMC and there's major issues with the infrastructure.

Your interest is the whole estate not your house. You own the all the roads, footpaths, lights, willow bed etc in the estate as you are part of the OMC. The only way this is going to be resolved is when you and your fellow owners of the OMC get your heads out of the sand and fix your estate.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120557083#Comment_120557083

It appears we may have to get a wrecking ball at all of the houses. I'm not sure our MD would be too happy to hear the OMC is non functioning.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058294363/council-refusing-to-take-over-small-housing-estate

If the estate isn't build to a sufficient standard, they the council shouldn't be expected to take it over.

An enforcement order being issued is for the completion of works to the standard outlined in the planning documents. That doesn't mean that standard is up to the standard required for council to take it over. It was a private estate.

This would also apply to waste waste not being up to required standards.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120532957#Comment_120532957

This sentence shows a gross misunderstanding of the issue.

You own a house and common areas in a private estate. The issue is 100% with the property owned by you and others.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120552191#Comment_120552191

The not the councils responsibility to monitor every action on site for compliance with building regs. It is the developers responsibility to have the site constructed to the required standard.

You have a claim against the developer. But the OMC will have to make that claim. You can't just pass the ball to the council and ask them to make your problems go away.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120558060#Comment_120558060

Quite a few people on here are making things up based on their own feeling about the situation. Let's stick to facts here. The council has a responsibility to take over the estate should the residents vote on it. The council have confirmed that they will take it over, with conditions. Please go back and read those posts.

I won't be responding to any further comments where posters are berating the residents. Put yourself in our situation. We didn't know these issues were there when we bought our houses but are fully aware that the issues fall back on us now.

Navigating this is tricky because the estate was changed after the council sent an enforcement order to the developer. Some of the houses were already built and people were living in them. The changes requested by the council caused the problems. Either the developer didn't do the job correctly, the updates did not take into consideration the roads that were already in place or both the developer and the council are to blame for this.

The developer cannot and will not pay for the repairs and nobody can make them do this either, solicitor or no solicitor. We are trying to get to the route of how it happened and why the council will not take over the estate. If there is no way the council will shift on this then at least we can make our voices heard at the next council meeting and question the council on why the changes needed to happen in the estate in the first place.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120558375#Comment_120558375

I suspect you want only opinions which agree with you, or outline a resolution which is to your satisfaction. Unfortunately that is not always possible based on the reality of the situation.

From what you have posted, it appears that you think your responsibility lies only with the property within the boundary of the home you bought. But under the MUD Act, you automatically become a member of the OMC when you purchase the unit, and therefore are responsible for the common areas/roads etc as well until it is taken in charge by the council. You keep saying the CC have a legal obligation to take the roads in charge, they have told you no such obligation exists until the estate meets the councils requirements. The fact that they sent an enforcement order does not mean they had to be on site when the work was done, the OMC/Developer had responsibility to ensure the works met the regulatory standard.

Unfortunately you are now faced with two options, continue to stamp your feet, watch the roads deteriorate further, wait for an accident to occur and the value of your properties go down as the conditions get worse, or call an EGM, organise for all unit owners to pay towards the repair costs, bring it up to required standard and let the Council take it from there. Your choice.

poker2k9

Not even sure why OP is looking for opinions on this board, when you should be talking to a solicitor on behalf of the residents on what the council can or cannot do.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120558526#Comment_120558526

Email received from the county council this afternoon. They are sending out an engineer and a staff officer next Tuesday to meet members of the management company. A local county councillor who was involved in the initial application organised this.

The councillor emailed me separately and said that he has discussed the issue with the county council and believes that they will likely budge on it. He highlighted that the estate is in "good condition" and does not fall under the category of "unfinished." He did not mention the roads but i'm sure that will come up in our meeting.