Couple Ordered to Demolish House - any update?

The relevance of the mortgage is directly related to the couples claim of hard times on them, and yes at first glance may seem like a moot point.

As this house was built off the books (I think we can agree that's a fact), is is likely (not verified) there is no mortgage. But the main point goes beyond this.

It is also likely as a plumber, building off the books, it was done as part of a group of builders in different areas (bricky, Sparky, plasterer, carpenter etc.) all supporting each other. Is this a fact no, is it a problem if it was done like this, No, I have no problem with builders helping each other, in their spare time, if that's what they want to do.

Its also worth remembering that the average size house in Ireland is 220m2 and this was build is over 500m2.

So it's not a reasonable sized house by any means, and they probably avoided paying huge amounts of interest, due to low build costs, and low if any interest payments on any loans, like the rest of us.

They also intentionally and willingly bloke the law in doing all this.

So my main point, however they funded the house, is claiming hard times doesn't cut it for me, we've all had hard times, but have had to struggle through with it and get on with it.

If you rob a bank, you can't suddenly claim hard times as some sort of get out clause not to be responsible for your illegal actions.

We all know what mortgage is - a loan with an asset with collateral as surety.

It's clear that this story (and indeed other stories) show all the problems ABP has.

ABP has made a fool of itself and shown to everyone that it and the council have no meaningful power. Structure is neatly 20 years old. I'm sure there are rules that if a structure is standing X amount of years without planning that it's automatically granted retention.

There's a stack of people before the courts in Dublin over renovations/extensions that were completed without planning permission. Courts are saying put it back the way it was, but nothing ever happens. The courts grant permission for the council to put things back the way they were but they don't have staff to do that, and any subcontractor would be mad to take on a job like that.

ABP's inability to change to a rules based system and inherent corruption in the organization is core contributing factor to the mess we currently have in the construction sector.