Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Amendment No. 17 constitutes a major change to the Bill, as published. It inserts a new section which extends the scope of the Bill to residential units in mixed use developments and more traditional housing estate developments. Subsection (1) replaces the provisions of subsection (3) by providing that the sections referred to in Schedule 1 will apply to multi-unit developments which comprise two or more units but not less than five units. Amendment No. 15 deletes section 1(3).

Subsection (2) is designed to deal with multi-unit developments which consist solely of houses, that is, the development resembles a traditional housing estate but has an owners' management company. The provisions of the Bill referred to in Schedule 2 will apply to any common areas of such developments.

Subsections (3), (4) and (5) relate to mixed use multi-unit developments. The object is to extend the scope of the Bill to residential units in such developments. This subsection (3) provides that, subject to subsection (4), the Bill shall apply to residential and commercial units in a development to the extent that amenities, facilities and services are shared by such commercial and residential units.

Subsection (4) provides that in circumstances where there is more than one management company in a mixed use development, that is, where there is one company for residential units and another for commercial units, the obligations on such companies will be met where the provisions in the Bill with respect to the annual service charges and contributions to the sinking fund are applied in a fair and equitable manner.

With regard to voting rights in mixed use developments, the general rule that there will be one vote per unit is not always practical in such developments, given the different uses and categories of units. The subsection provides, therefore, that the management companies in such developments will be deemed to have complied with the provisions of the legislation where the voting rights of members are apportioned in a manner which is fair and equitable.

Subsection (5) seeks to make it clear that in ensuring such matters are dealt with fairly and equitably, account must be taken of all relevant matters, including the level of use of common areas by the different classes of units. The objective of amendment No. 49 is to ensure that voting rights in a mixed use development operate in a fair and equitable manner.

Amendment No. 73 inserts the new Schedule 2 to the Bill to apply to developments which consist of traditional housing units that have an owners' management company. I propose that developments will be obliged to transfer ownership of any common areas in such developments to the management company which will be obliged to complete the development in line with planning permission and building controls.

Section 13, which concerns the holding of annual meetings of the management company, will also apply to these developments. However, I have excluded three subsections: 13(c) which relates to a sinking fund; 13(2)(g) which concerns the block insurance; and 13(2)(h) which concerns fire safety provisions from Schedule 2 as I do not consider these are applicable to traditional housing estates.

Although section 14 of the Bill, concerning annual service charges, will apply, I do not consider it necessary to apply the provisions concerning the sinking fund, section 15 or section 17 on house rules. It is important, however, that the residents in such developments have recourse, where necessary, to dispute resolution mechanisms and, accordingly, I have provided for that in sections 18 to 22.