Estate management fees
North Dublin residents summonsed to court

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Garret Mullan

Householders from the Balbriggan estate of Chieftains Way and Chapel Farm in Lusk have have been summonsed to court over non- payment of estate management fees to the agents Smyths and Wallis.

People are extremely angry that they are being levied these fees because out of almost 600 dwellings between the two estates, all but 15 live in houses and they receive absolutely no service. 

More than 500,000 people nationally now live in houses or apartments affected by management fees.  The Socialist Party has been campaigning on this issue locally and nationally for the past number of years.  When this issue was addressed in the Dail, Bertie Ahern said that “it was never intended that people living in houses would be affected by this issue.” 

The reality for working people is that they cannot afford to live near where they work and have been forced to the commuter belt to find a home.  All local authorities have been subject to a recruitment embargo since 2002.  So despite the fact that the population of Balbriggan has increased by 50% since 2002, the council staff resources have not increased to match the needs of the community. 

This undermining of the public sector was the perfect excuse to effectively privatise what has always been an essential public service funded from central taxation, without a direct charge. It was a guise to introduce a new stealth tax. This system saved the developers millions by making the residents pay for work that was normally their responsibility until the estate was finished and handed over to the Council. For the unregulated management agents it was a license to print money.

Residents have no choice but to get organised and put the pressure on the politicians. They can abolish these companies for houses and bring in legislation to deal with apartments so that the companies are regulated and under residents control. A protest supporting the residents will take place outside Balbriggan District Court on 20 September, this is a stance on behalf of all those opposed to this rip-off. Come along and support these residents, assemble outside the courthouse at 9.30am.

Estate management fees
No democracy in Castlecurragh

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Helen Redwood, Chair, Castlecurragh Residents Association

Castlecurragh residents in Dublin West have been treated to another dose of management company “democracy”.  When a budget prepared for the forthcoming financial year by the Fingal County Council appointed directors was voted down by residents at the recent AGM, the directors announced that they would be adopting the budget none-the-less!  No amendments or reference back of parts of the budget were accepted.

Residents were particularly angry at having to foot a €56,000 bill for legal costs arising from court action against those withholding fees in order to bring the Council to the negotiating table over releasing houses from the management company.  Those in arrears also include residents whose financial circumstances have changed for the worse since buying into the estate – how many more will be affected in this way if the economy continues to decline?

Conveniently for the directors, time ran out before a resolution to block their intimidatory proposal to publish a list of “debtors” was taken.

Nevertheless, residents’ action has already resulted in a reduction of fees as the Council now pays for routine services normally provided to estates from taxation.  Legal advice paid for by the Council also vindicates the argument advanced by the Socialist Party, that it is possible to disentangle houses from management company contracts.  As a result, residents will eventually be presented with an option to go ahead with restructuring the management company to release houses and downscale for apartments.