Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Rouse and Mr. Maher for a very informative presentation. I have been a director of two property management companies and everything that has been said resonates with me. The witnesses spoke of the civic-mindedness of the people who live there. That has been always the case. At every annual general meeting we found it impossible to get directors. We had to beat them out of the apartments to get them to be involved. There is corporate responsibility and company law etc. Mirrored by that is the fact that many of them are neighbours. With a very high occupancy, clever people buying into an apartment scheme would be perhaps looking at the various levels of who occupies the property. There is also the added conflict that they are residents as well as neighbours. They are potentially friends, and if they fall out of being friends, that is a difficulty when taking a long term view. It costs people money. Coupled with that is that there are not many large property management firms. There are about ten key ones around the country and they are making a hell of a lot of money.

They send their representatives to the monthly meetings of the directors. The first thing about which they will be mindful and conscious is their fee. They will tell people they do not really need to do things - they will get an engineer's report stating that the roof will last another few years. Lifts are a notorious difficulty. Lifts and balconies in apartment complexes mean big money. That impacts on the insurance, why people buy them and do not buy them and why they might prefer the second floor rather than the third, fourth or fifth. All of these pieces of the jigsaw can be picked up. Again, management companies - they are meant to be independent, but there is a conflict of interest since they are being paid - are interested in enough money being in the funds to pay their fees, and in many cases, these are exorbitant. Sometimes the breakdown of and accounting for those fees is not very detailed. In most apartment companies the chairman will have been the chairman for a long time, and the same board and management structures will have been in place during that time. They know who to befriend and keep on side. That is the reality. I have had this experience and I know what I am talking about. That is an important issue.

There is also the added dilemma that local authorities are buying apartments in these complexes. I know this is the case in all local authorities in Dublin, and I have no difficulty with it. We have people in these complexes whose rent would in no way cover the management cost in a year. It is a ticking timebomb. We have this situation all over Dublin. I am doing a survey, involving the 31 local authorities, to ascertain how many apartments in private complexes have and a schedule of the maintenance fees. I have identified the numbers and, surprise, surprise, the local authorities are very forthcoming with that information, certainly in the Dublin area. It is obvious there is a substantial amount of money involved. In fairness, the local authorities pay their management fees; there is no difficulty with that. However, the management fees are way in excess of the rent they are receiving. That is just the nature of the situation. People do not have the income and cannot afford it. That is why they are on the social housing list and that is appropriate.

There are, however, other people in these complexes who are aware of the situation. They claim they are expected to pay the maintenance fees for their properties and are also expected to pay a local property tax. In many cases, they will ask what services they are getting for this. Local authorities are not responsible for waste but there is an anger out there. There are many people who would have less disposal income than the people who are the tenants. There are many reasons why there are problems. The witnesses' presentation was very professional; I was very impressed by it. They are on the button. I acknowledge that because I think it is really important.

I want to ask a few questions. Appendix one sets out clearly that the witnesses' want to achieve the proper regulation of owners and management companies. They want to promote best practice among owners and management companies, and there is nothing wrong with that. I want to spend a moment talking about the issues of educate, inform and communicate. Most people go in, pay their fees and just move on. Many sublet. There needs to be an obligation on the directors of these management companies, and the management, to engage with and tell people their rights. The Canadian model has been mentioned. I am familiar with it. I think that is important but who will pay for the inspectorate or body? Are we suggesting that apartment owners should pay another fee? If one talks to planners in Dublin City and County Council, it will be noted that there is a decided shift away from apartments. They are finding it difficult. I refer to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown for instance. It is a model now being considered more appropriate for social housing units, as they are called. However, many people do not want to get into apartments now because they claim there is no way to predict the future management costs and there are many other reasons they do not want them. There is a demand for low housing. However, that is not appropriate when we have a housing crisis. We have got to get high density. We need to instil a bit of confidence in why it is a good thing to live in multistorey units or complexes. There can be developments with high density and low height levels. The reasons need to be set out because at the moment people do not want to part with their money because of it.

I want to touch on another important issue. I clearly do not want the details of the properties in this case because it would not be appropriate to name them in a public forum because there are people living in them. They are people's investments and, more importantly, they are people's homes and their only homes. I do not want to knock individual apartments. However, are the witnesses aware of a substantial number of apartments that have serious defects in them? Local people have local knowledge. I am aware of some apartments in Dublin that people cannot shift or have had to take a dramatic reduction in price just to get them off their hands. Are the witnesses aware of that? To what extent is that a problem? The witnesses might just share that with us. I wish them well.

There is also a legal and financial side to this. I refer to the Institute of Engineering and the Law Society. There is a need for further discussion to keep this on the boil and see where we can bring in legal experts. I refer also to the local authorities - they are the housing authority, the planning authority and the inspectorate for the private rental sector. They have all of those responsibilities and requirements. There may be a need to have a designated liaison officer in each of the local authorities, and certainly in the bigger cities, because they have statutory responsibilities in respect of these properties. I thank the witnesses again for their excellent presentation.