Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes—

that more than 500,000 people live in apartment and mixed developments, there are approximately 303,000 apartments in Ireland, including the 60,000 built since 2005, with approximately 4,600 management companies operating in Ireland today;

that multi-unit, apartment and mixed developments will continue to increase as we move towards higher urban densities and more environmentally sustainable living;

the widespread information deficit experienced by current and prospective homeowners relating to their rights and responsibilities with regard to management companies, management agents and management fees;

the lack of urgency and confusion displayed by Government on when the legislation to regulate the provision of property management services will be introduced and also the failure to introduce practical measures to tackle major problems in the organisation and operation of management companies;

that many homeowners suffer from a range of management company related problems such as a lack of transparency in the setting and spending of service charges, no "sinking funds" or properly accounted "sinking funds", and developers refusing to cede control of management companies to the rightful owners;

calls on the Government:

to immediately move to introduce legislation to put the National Property Services Regulatory Authority (NPSRA) on a statutory footing and include in legislation provisions to allow the NPSRA to regulate management companies;

to amend company law to allow a name change from "management company" to "owner's company" as soon as the control of the management company is transferred from the developer to the owners;

to amend company law to require developers to transfer control of a completed development to the owners within a short time after the development has been deemed completed and also to make provisions to restrict voting rights to one vote per unit;

to require that developers set initial service charges in a fair and transparent manner, either by floor area, unit type or as recommended by an independent quantity surveyor with the documented use of service charges to be made available to all applicable owners and to prohibit the charging of management fees by developers to pay for any cost other than the maintenance of the common areas;

to make the provision of "sinking funds" mandatory;

to amend the Planning and Development Act to require that where an Owners Company is established as a consequence of a new development, the extent of the area then will be taken in charge by the council shall be delineated clearly on a site layout drawing, complete with accompanying descriptions, that will form part of the planning application documentation.

I propose to share time with Deputies Terence Flanagan and Mitchell.

See this speech in context