Selling a house in estate without Management Company

DaveZubie

Hi there

We are thinking of trying to sell out house and moving closer to home.
Our problem is that it seems that the management company originally setup may have been dissolved and the estate has not yet been completed (the council is currently in court trying to get the bond released)

Does anyone know if this would be a problem if we decided to try selling?

Thanks
Dave

valleyoftheunos

I'm sorry to say but yes it will make your home more difficult to sell. buyers will be less likely to buy and Mortgage providers less likely to grant loans on the property.

godtabh

if there was a management company that got dissolved all its interests now with the Minister of Finance. We had this issue a couple of years ago. It is very difficult to resolve it.

Lantus

DaveZubie wrote: »

Hi there

We are thinking of trying to sell out house and moving closer to home.
Our problem is that it seems that the management company originally setup may have been dissolved and the estate has not yet been completed (the council is currently in court trying to get the bond released)

Does anyone know if this would be a problem if we decided to try selling?

Thanks
Dave

It should next to impossible to do this as the company is an intrinsic part of the contract lease and sale and both the buyer and seller need it to complete any contract.

Many people give a cheer when their company heads south without realising the full implications of what it entails. Apparently saving a few quid a year on fees WASNT worth not being able to sell their house. Something we are still trying to convey to our members as to its relevance!

The MUD act provided some leeway as you can petition to the high court to have it restored if it hasn't gone longer than 6 years dissolved. Costs around 2 to 4 thousand. If it is longer than 6 years you will need proffessional legal advice.

billy few mates

Was it a condition of the planning permission that a management company be set up to run the estate on completion?

DaveZubie

Hi and thanks for the replys.

After more digging I discovered that the management company still exists and is still in control of the original developer.

However he is currently in dispute with the council as to the issue of completion of the estate and getting back his bond - he says everything is done, council say there is still items to be addressed. I think the council are currently undertaking legal action to get the bond released.

I have also heard that this has caused problems for other sales so I'll have to wait and see.

Cheers

Lantus

DaveZubie wrote: »

Hi and thanks for the replys.

After more digging I discovered that the management company still exists and is still in control of the original developer.

However he is currently in dispute with the council as to the issue of completion of the estate and getting back his bond - he says everything is done, council say there is still items to be addressed. I think the council are currently undertaking legal action to get the bond released.

I have also heard that this has caused problems for other sales so I'll have to wait and see.

Cheers

If the developer is still in control and the company exists then presumable you are paying an annual service fee? If not then why not? What does the company cover?

It will be easier to negotiate with the builder now as to taking over if needed than when he's gone and no longer interested.

The taking in charge process should not affect any potential sale though. As long as the company is up and running. You can obtain all the details from the CRO with the company number and check to make sure accounts have been submitted etc and the cuurent finances.

DaveZubie

Lantus wrote: »

If the developer is still in control and the company exists then presumable you are paying an annual service fee? If not then why not? What does the company cover?

It will be easier to negotiate with the builder now as to taking over if needed than when he's gone and no longer interested.

The taking in charge process should not affect any potential sale though. As long as the company is up and running. You can obtain all the details from the CRO with the company number and check to make sure accounts have been submitted etc and the cuurent finances.

Its a little more complicated as the developer sold sites to individual builder who My contract when buying the house was that we would become members of the company once it was complete and signed off as such by the council.

To date we have not payed anything to the management company as it was being run by the developer. He stopped paying for grass cutting, maintenance etc last year and the residents have taken over it. There is an issue though as we were informed we shouldnt be doing this as there may not be liability insurance in place.

I will see if I can find out about their accounts.

Thanks

billy few mates

Was it a condition of the planning authority that the estate on would be run by a management company (to be set up by the owners) rather than the local authorities and that the developer would hand the estate over to that company on completion?
You may find that the developer has set up the company to manage the estate until completion when he (and his agents) will then resign and hand the running of that company over to the home owners who each own a share in that company.
In your sale agreement was there a mention of this and was there a small charge applied (approx €125 per house) towards the setting up of this company?
It was very common back in the 'good times'.

DaveZubie

billy few mates wrote: »

Was it a condition of the planning authority that the estate on would be run by a management company (to be set up by the owners) rather than the local authorities and that the developer would hand the estate over to that company on completion?
You may find that the developer has set up the company to manage the estate until completion when he (and his agents) will then resign and hand the running of that company over to the home owners who each own a share in that company.
In your sale agreement was there a mention of this and was there a small charge applied (approx €125 per house) towards the setting up of this company?
It was very common back in the 'good times'.

Yeah Billy that sounds exactly like what is it, estate isn't signed off as completed yet. Council want to do the completion while developer says its complete.

billy few mates

Good, I might be able to help you then....:)

We had something similar here in our estate, it was a condition of the planning approval that a management company be set up to run the estate, every house had a nominal single share in that company and when the estate was finished the developer called us all to a meeting where him and his solicitor (who were the original directors of the company) resigned from that company and asked us to nominate the new board of directors for the company.
We had lots of volunteers to set up a residents association but (naturally enough) not too many people who wanted to become a director of a company.
In the meantime the developer stopped cutting the grass and became quite forceful in trying to hand over the reigns of company but no one wanted to do it. We even engaged a solicitor to try and find a way out of this but he failed miserably and told us we were stuck with it.

Then one day I found this letter on the internet....:)
http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Planning/FileDownLoad,16779,en.pdf

Basically it says that local authorities must take in charge any development if the majority of the residents request it, regardless of whether or not it was a planning condition.

Where there are core facilities in existing residential developments which were approved by the planning authority on the basis that they would remain private and be maintained by a management company, these must be taken in charge if the majority of residents request it;

and

- Planning authorities must not attach management companies as a condition of planning in respect of traditional housing estates, save in very exceptional circumstances, as set out in the annex to this circular;

So, armed with this letter (and the signatures of more than 50% of the home owners) we approached the local planning authority and told them we wanted to be taken in charge . They were completely unaware of this letter or how to proceed with it. After some 'negotiation' they asked us to make a normal planning application to have the original condition overturned, which (after some more negotiations) they agreed to.
They said they would take over the estate with the exception of the grass cutting (which we were quite happy to arrange ourselves). We then approached the developer and his solicitor, told him we would not be taking over the management company and (after some more heated negotiations) we had him turn over all the money from the account into the account of the residents association.
Now instead of of having an estate with mandatory management fees that we calculated would be in excess of €700-800 per year we ask for a voluntary contribution of €50 towards the grass cutting and maintenance of the green areas and the council look after everything else.

I've since advised and assisted some other residents associations to do what we did, if you want to contact me with any queries about this I'd be glad to point you in the right direction....